Templar
by InnovAsians
Summary: Jaune was a knight, not a hunter. He'd always be a knight, he told himself, but when he's told to travel to Vale, one of the central nations of Remnant, Jaune suddenly finds himself in the hunter school of Beacon Academy, learning to become something he didn't want to become!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of this story I've been thinking up for the past little while that I've been watching the RWBY series. I'm not particularly sure if this story is going to be as interesting to everyone as it will be to me but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless.**

 **Regardless of that meaningless talk though, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Templar.**

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 **Beta:** dracohalo117

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 **Chapter 1: City of Light**

* * *

 _Those who hunted the monsters of the night…_

Black splashed across green.

 _Most called them heroes of sorts…_

A shield shrieked as ivory claws ran ragged against it.

 _Some called them soldiers…_

A blade whistled as a bleached skull flew into the sky.

 _But we called them…_

Jaune roared as he slammed his sword into the fallen Grimm.

 _Hunters._

Seconds died off into the night sky, Jaune clenched his sword tightly, waiting, listening…predicting some sort of movement in the night.

None came.

Slowly, Jaune stowed away his blade, nestling it into its sheath. He warily watched as the dead slowly melded into the night sky. Silently the dark particles stalked their way back in the blackness they came from.

Jaune breathed out slowly, the air in his lungs crawling out from between his lips in a thin pitch. He pushed past the flora that surrounded him, shoving through the tree line and into the open grass, he found himself face to face with an incredible sight.

Lights which danced across the black canvas of night, illuminating it with their incandescence. The rabble of voices far off that still toiled tirelessly despite the hours. He could feel the cool night air slink around him and drape him like a cloak, beckoning him to come forwards, to come closer to this strange world he now found himself in.

All he could do, was utter one word.

"Vale."

* * *

"It's like a labyrinth..." Jaune whispered to himself in wonder as he turned down another corner and found himself staring at the same store he had just walked past several minutes ago. He had been wandering the city for over an hour now, searching fruitlessly for wherever the governing body resided –instead he had so far found a bookstore, two 'coffee shops', and a...building that seemed to hold dust.

Jaune had no clue what these so called 'coffee shops' were supposed to sell but he certainly knew what a book was and dust was a universal concept in Remnant. Though the names for these stores were certainly...unique to put it mildly.

"Tukson's Booktrade, Home to Every Book Under the Sun..." He read aloud, staring at the shiny letters sprawled above the entrance with deep interest.

Of course, Jaune doubted this 'Tukson' actually had every book under the sun –he wasn't that naïve- and the lights were off, implying the store was closed, so he retraced his steps back toward the dust building.

Perhaps the shopkeeper could point him in the right direction.

As he walked, Jaune began recanting to himself, the goals he had set out for himself with this journey.

Find the Grand City of Vale

Establish a connection with the leadership or governing body.

Acquire help for the ongoing war.

Not exactly a plan set in stone but High Templar Romulus had told him personally that the plan had to be flexible.

 _We know almost nothing about the central nations Jaune, so keep your wits about you. We have your goals and nothing else. Figuring out how to accomplish those goals will be entirely up to you and you alone. I'm sure you'll be fine._

Jaune had to make sure that trust hadn't been misplaced.

When the High Templar had selected him for this task, his family had been...less than pleased about the turn of events. Connection with the outside had been effectively limited for decades and possibly even centuries –the limited communication came solely from the very rare trader who passed through or dead corpses torn apart by the local Grimm.

You could find quite a lot about a culture just by inspecting one of their dead.

Jaune himself had been...glad enough at the news. This _was_ his chance to finally venture far beyond the wall and the forest surrounding them to learn more about this world he existed in. And while his family had been terrified about the potential danger the outside presented –his fingers gently brushed a jet black feather from within his armor- he had insurance should anything prove a bit too difficult for him. Returning his hands to his sides, Jaune gave himself a quick look over before turned the final corner to the dust building.

His heavy breastplate, colored white with a gold inlay of his family insignia, had suffered several scratches from the few Grimm encounters he had faced along the way here but was otherwise pristine as the day he received it. His sword was strapped on his left side, shield on his back. His rucksack, filled with extra clothes and other small odds and ends, had sustained no damage and looked no worse for wear from the long journey north from his home.

Overall, he felt that he looked acceptable with the minor scratches in his armor being barely noticeable.

So he turned the corner, intent on getting some direc-

 ***CRASH***

His fingers shot around the hilt of his blade like lightning as he heard glass shatter and sprinkle over the hard ground. Looking forwards he saw the source of the noise, a small girl in a red dress holding a...

"What the hell?" He whispered to himself as the...well...box, for lack of better term, unfurled like a curtain into the form of a scythe. He was frozen in wonder as the incredible weapon shifted with the whirring of gears hidden and unseen beneath layers of metal and steel.

He was brought back to focus when the girl slammed the scythe into the floor so hard it embedded into the hard ground beneath her.

Surrounding her were a group of men all dressed similarly in black, though one was wearing white and apparently had issues walking if the cane was any indication.

Jaune hesitated for a moment, wondering what on earth he was supposed to do. They had all emerged from the building he had just been walking towards and it was clear they were about to fight over some unknown slight. He had no clue where to reach the nearest chaplain and he doubted that getting involved in this incident would actually help his case once he met with whoever led the city.

 ***BOOM***

 ***BOOM***

 ***BOOM***

Moreover, the girl seemed to be handling the men just fine from his point of view. She flew through them, throwing them around like dolls, with every single bang –Jaune had no clue what the hell was making that raucous noise every time she moved but he assumed she was somehow doing it with how synchronized she was with the blasts.

So Jaune simply stalked forwards, body bent low to the ground and a hand on his blade as he carefully edged closer and closer to the fight. Sure, inching so close left the possibility of getting caught up in the quarrel but they seemed quite interested in fighting each other, so they didn't notice him as he edged along the wall, stepped through the broken window, and made his way into the store.

 _Definitely some sort of dust repository...Seems like those men were in the process of robbing it if the conversation outside is any indication along with the color matching suitcases filled with dust._ Jaune sighed to himself as he looked back towards the laughing, if overly flamboyant, man.

And now the question came: should he help stop a robbery?

Was it even his responsibility? Hell, this young girl seemed more than capable and no one had come to stop the fight yet, so perhaps she was the local authority, crazy as it seemed.

Though, all of these thoughts came to a close when the young girl took one look at him and immediately pointed her scythe at him.

"Back off the shopkeeper!" Her voice was quite...shrilly if he had to put a word to it. A bit unpleasant to hear if he was honest to himself.

"Now, now Red! You shouldn't look away in a fight!" A bang sounded and smoke filled his vision in an instant, Jaune quickly grabbed the old man and relocated outside, outside the cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared he saw the young girl –emphasis on young he mentally noted, the girl looked younger than him- coughing but otherwise alright. She locked her eyes on him and furiously pointed her scythe at him.

"Let him go!"

 _Don't you have a thief to catch?_ Jaune wanted to retort but let the man go regardless, not wanting to raise the tiny fighter's ire.

"That man is getting away you know." He mundanely said as he turned his head towards another building a small ways off. Jaune pointed and the girls head followed along, her eyes finally landing on the white cloak of the man she had been fighting.

"Yo-You just stay here!" She said, clearly annoyed and unsure of how to manage two different potential targets. "And don't hurt the shopkeeper!" She shouted back at him as she leaped onto the roof of an adjacent building.

"..." He stared at the old man who stared right back at him.

"Please don't hur-" A fear-filled raspy voice began.

"I won't." He cut the question off a bit more ruthlessly than necessary, admittedly a bit bothered by how the young girl had brushed him off so easily. He looked up to see 'Red' –that's what the Man-In-White had called her so he was sticking with it for now- finally reaching the top of the building the supposed criminal had ran up to.

She was quite fast it seemed.

Jaune sighed and decided to break the rules a little and ignore her command to 'stay right there', instead, with a push from his legs, he leaped up to the building she was on top of.

He got there much faster than her, certainly immature for him to be keeping track of something so small, but it still brought him some joy in this botched plan.

"See ya Red!" The Man-In-White shouted as he...

...

...

"What in the name of God is that..." Jaune whispered as he walked up next to Red. She jumped and turned to face him but he ignored her completely, regardless of her shrill shouting. The man was in some sort of...machine? He couldn't even tell what it was let alone how it was flying so easily.

It was amazing.

Suddenly his instincts roared back to life, prompting him to draw his shield and position himself in front of Red, legs bracing for some kind of impact.

 ***BOOM***

Heat slammed into his shield with the weight of a deathstalker stinger, causing his feet to sink into the rooftop, crushing the tough material underfoot. He held steady, even as the heat spread around his shield and grazed his arms, luckily they were armored and protected.

The fire receded though, quickly, as though it were a dog having its leashed tugged back. As Jaune stood back up he narrowed his eyes and shoved the girl backwards.

Roughly.

He wasn't holding a grudge at her dismissal of him.

Nope.

More importantly than his completely non-existent grudge was the fact that these people had just attacked him completely unprovoked.

His mind was settled on the matter now.

He raised a hand and opened his mouth, ready to call down thunder but he froze as a feminine figure in the flying device began glowing brightly, the air around her shimmering with heat. Suddenly she summoned bright red orbs of fire which hung around her, circling her in a hypnotizing orbit. Jaune cursed as he leaped backwards, shield up again, ready to block for the younger girl who had just now gotten back up after a long string of grumbling.

"Get down!" He shouted as he knelt beside her, covering most of her body with his own, ensuring her safety as the fire rained down upon them.

But it apparently wasn't needed, as none of the blasts even hit his shield let alone his body. Instead they had harmlessly exploded against some translucent purple force before him.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Red whispered next to him. He turned to find her practically drooling at their new addition –so that probably made this woman an ally of some sort, Jaune guessed. The woman in question was dressed...strangely for lack of better word. She wore a short skirt and leggings, her upper attire seemed a bit fancy in his opinion, though apparently his opinion was worth jack according to his sisters.

Even stranger however, she was holding a whip as a weapon it seemed.

"Whip?" He whispered to himself. Not the most practical weapon to be honest and Jaune couldn't see a situation where she would even be allowed to use it properly, unless someone else brought the ship down for her and then she used it to spank them. Which didn't seem...plausible.

"Hmph." She disregarded the two of them and raised her weapon, twirling it slightly. Jaune's eyes widened as stone began lifting off the ground and coalescing into the shape of a crude spear. It began to spiral like a drill, slowly at first, but picked up speed quickly, whirring like a top. It shot forwards, tearing through the wind on a warpath towards the metal bird in the sky. But before it could even get close however, fire erupted in a sphere around the machine, knocking the stones away easily. Jaune could barely make out the Man-In-White giving them an unknown hand gesture as he flew off.

Jaune knew little about the culture here, but he was sure it was something rude.

"You're Glynda Goodwitch!" He jumped when the girl beside him launched off like a boarbatusk towards this 'Glynda Goodwitch'. Her eyes shone like diamonds and her hands were clasped together like steel links. "Can I have your autograph!?"

He flinched at her voice and locked eyes with Glynda, staring her down as he stood up fully straight, his blonde hair still slightly singed from the encounter, but he ignored it.

The woman sighed, palming her face as she shook her head.

* * *

 _Getting into trouble on your first night, what a strong entry Jaune._ He thought to himself derisively, forehead practically glued to the table in front of him.

After the battle –if you could really call it that- the woman had apprehended the two of them took them here, a large and important looking building where she then separated them into two rooms –he had been told to sit here quietly while she talked with Red. Hopefully they finished soon though, he was getting a bit famished now.

He lifted his head when he heard a noise sound from the other side of the door.

The door.

That was another oddity he couldn't quite understand. Doors were simple enough, a slab of either wood or steel that could swing on hinges and had a handle to turn. Simple, right?

Apparently wrong since this door had no handle and didn't swing. It just seemed to... _melt_ into the wall, sliding smoothly into some hidden compartment that he couldn't see. It had no handle that he could easily discern, a small flat plate residing in the location where the handle would have been. When he had been escorted into the room they had just walked up to it and it opened all on its own.

It was fascinating to say the least.

 _Speak of the Grimm...That one is Glynda I think. The other though?_ Jaune watched the door slide open –he would need to investigate it further when he had the time- to reveal Glynda and a fancily dressed man. The man sat in front of him while Glynda remained standing, strict and proper.

The man cleared his throat and blinked slowly, his eyes locking onto Jaune's figure.

Jaune matched him though, refusing to blink as they observed each other. Seconds passed by at a snail's pace, the minutes crawling past him even slower. As they passed by Jaune began to try his best to work out what the man wanted, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what the man wanted no matter how hard he racked his brain for answers. Maybe he wanted Jaune to start speaking? Possibly introduce himself first? Or maybe this was a test of endurance to see how strong his will was, testing the waters so to speak.

Finally the man cleared his throat and brought out a thin plate with a black face and a grey back. Jaune watched carefully as he fiddled with it, keeping the black side from view. When he slid it onto the table, Jaune was amazed to see that a cacophony of colors had somehow replaced the black side. The colors formed into images and words, and most impressively some even moved. Jaune resisted the desperate urge to reach out and touch it.

"You don't go to Signal, do you?" His voice was probing and curious, which put Jaune at ease. He had been expecting a more accusatory tone to be frank. "In fact," he slid a finger across the strange tablet, faces flashed across the screen before resting on a large question mark, "you don't seem to go anywhere." The man's eyes took on a steel edge and Jaune tensed, his fingers itching to his sword.

Like a lightning bolt, Glynda had drawn her whip and jabbed it into his neck, holding him stone steady from even touching his blade.

 _Ah...I suppose this is why they felt comfortable with leaving me my weapons._ Apparently they were that confident in their skills. Though Jaune couldn't really hold it against them, he hadn't even _seen_ the woman move. She had been standing still one second and in the next, her whip was trying to impale his throat. Jaune lifted his hand back up to the table slowly, letting them watch the action as a show of peace.

"My name is Jaune Arc." He answered stiffly, craning his neck slightly to better alleviate the uncomfortable pressure building on his Adam's apple. "And you?" He croaked back, cringing as he felt the hard cartilage bounce against the hard steel.

"Glynda." A small wave of relief ran over Jaune as the man placed a hand on Glynda's arm, gently lowering it back down. "No need for that right now." He turned back to Jaune and calmly took a sip of whatever was in his mug. Seemed quite dark however. "So, you don't know who I am?" Apparently the question had taken him by some surprise, though he wasn't showing it in any physical capacity, expression unchanging, the only sign came from the way his eyebrow quirked ever so slightly.

"He didn't seem to recognize who I was either." Glynda piped up as well, nodding to the man curtly before returning her narrowed eyes at Jaune.

"Strange." The man hummed quietly to himself, taking another long sip before setting the mug down and folding his hands on the desk. "My name is Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"I see," he really didn't, especially since he wasn't privy to wherever 'Beacon Academy' was, but he just went along with it as best he could. "May I ask why I'm being held here?" Against his will at that but he didn't want to press the issue too hard, just in case.

"According to Glynda, you were involved in a street robbery of some sort."

"I was just watching. No intentions of getting involved." Okay, so a half lie but it wasn't like they would really know. In fact, the worst he had done was defend Red, if you could even consider that bad.

"No intentions of getting involved?" His voice didn't change tone at all but it was somehow laced with accusation.

"Absolutely none."

"Well then," Ozpin's eyebrow rose up a small bit as he sighed to himself in subtle resignation, "where did you learn how to use aura?" He tapped the screen once, twice, and thrice more as it filled with a still image of Jaune and Red on the rooftop, his feet sinking into the ceiling as he defended a fiery blow.

It was Jaune's turned to be confused though. "What is aura?"

"...What is...aura?" This time, incredulity came through into his voice loud and clear, though he quickly covered it with a cough. Ozpin shared a look with Glynda that Jaune couldn't really interpret, though he caught flashes of it that he could understand.

Confusion, of course, was at the forefront, but also suspicion and caution.

"Jaune -that is your name correct?" He only continued after Jaune gave him confirmation through a short nod. "Exactly where are you from?"

"Shiloh." Easy answer. It didn't seem to take with Ozpin however, as his expression stayed minimally confused but the sipping intensified. "It's south of here, past the mountains." That seemed to get a reaction, Jaune noted, as Ozpin seemed to choke on his drink. Jaune certainly gave him credit however, as Ozpin recovered quickly and his coughing fit had, incredibly, not spilled a single drop anywhere on the table or on his person.

"Past the mountains?" Ozpin asked, wiping his hand down with a small handkerchief he had procured from inside his coat. "That means Shiloh is in the outskirts. It's an outskirts city." He seemed to mutter it more to himself than anyone else though as he seemed thoroughly captured in his own thoughts. He turned to Glynda. "Do you think he's telling the truth?" He asked.

"I am." Jaune replied, a bit annoyed at getting the cold shoulder once again, but he was completely ignored.

Glynda shook her head. "He didn't show on any of the citizen records, and he clearly isn't some vagrant judging by his use of aura and general attire. But he could be a spy for..." Her words trailed off.

"He doesn't seem to have the demeanor of a spy." Ozpin's said as he gave Jaune a quick look over.

"But the timing of his arrival was certainly lucky."

"So was Ruby's." Ozpin retorted. "Fortune plants the seeds opportunity where she wills."

"It's dangerous to use unknowns Ozpin." Glynda warned, her voice taking on an edge.

"Nothing is ever _known_ Glynda, we only ever know better."

"He could turn out to be dangerous."

"They'll all turn out dangerous one day. It's our job to keep them from becoming the wrong kind of dangerous."

"That would only count if he were going to Beacon."

"..."

"Ozpin..." Glynda cringed as she slid her hand over her face. "We can't just induct new-"

"We allowed Miss Rose in early." He quickly parried.

"Exactly, _early,_ meaning that she was already bound to end up there. This," she threw a hand towards him, "boy is not a student."

"But he could be."

"I'm not here to learn anything from either of you." Jaune quickly interjected, raising his voice slightly to get their attention. When they turned towards him, both watching carefully, he continued. "I'm here to establish a connection between the Central Nation of Vale and Shiloh and act as an ambassador between the two." Simple mission with simple goals. He didn't feel like wasting anymore time here with these two.

Apparently they didn't agree however.

"Jaune, I apologize if we seem a bit...hesitant to believe you." Ozpin traced his words with care and nuance as he beckoned for Jaune to give him a listening ear. Jaune almost refused to due to a small amount of immature spite. "We only know of a few outskirts cities, and Vale has rarely ever contacted any of them. In fact, there hasn't been contact for quite a few decades. I'm sorry if we seem a bit...cautious." He took another slow sip.

Jaune sighed, calming down as he listened to his words. The man wasn't wrong, Shiloh refused to trade with any of the Central Nations and the only time they really communicated with them was on sparse occasions when the errant traveler would somehow manage to stumble through their gates, if you could really call that communication. Really, Ozpin wasn't wrong, and Jaune's anger was a bit misplaced, perhaps they could even help point him in the right direction.

"Well, I apologize for the slight outburst. I'm just a bit frustrated is all." A small peace offering in the form of words, Jaune hoped that they would accept it. "Do you know where the governing body resides here? I'd like to finish my mission soon." He stifled a telling yawn.

"Jaune, before I answer that, I'd like to know why Shiloh wishes to establish this connection in the first place."

He bit his lip, chewing on it slightly as he deliberated. On one hand, he didn't really want to give out his missions details to someone who wasn't a part of it but on the other, he didn't feel like arguing right now. Eventually his desire to just get on with his mission won out and he started talking.

"Shiloh requires more food and fighters to help with the ongoing war. We were hoping that a Central Nation would be willing to lend us their...um..." he searched for the word in vain, unable to bring up exactly what term had been thrown around by Bishop Hammond.

"Soldiers?" Ozpin offered, though his words came a bit sharp this time. Jaune took notice and tempered his voice and planned his words a bit more carefully.

"No, it was something else. I believe they were called..."

"Hunters?"

"Yes, I believe that's correct." Jaune nodded as the word came flooding back into his mind. Hunters. A word that was a bit of a taboo in Shiloh due to their reputation, though it seemed the High Templar didn't hold the same reservations. "We need hunters for the war."

Ozpin grimaced a bit at the word, sharing the same dark look with Glynda as he set the mug down, a bit harder than normal.

"Vale has no interest in helping fight another nation's war." Glynda answered back simply, eyes narrowing down and turning ice cold. Jaune bristled at the words.

"I believe that would be the governing body's choice to make. Not yours." He shot back with similar toxicity.

"Stop." Ozpin's voice didn't ring loud but it was hostile, filling the room with a chill that silenced the both of them instantly. "What war?" He hissed, voice filling, for the first time since he had entered the room, with emotion.

"It hasn't started yet," Jaune began, doing his best to shrug off Glynda's glare, though failing miserably as a shiver crawled along the length of his spine. "But we spotted an enormous pack of Grimm heading straight for the city just days ago. They're far for now but they're undoubtedly heading our way and will hit the city in a matter of months."

The two of them seemed to deflate quickly, animosity immediately replaced with relief at his words.

"A war against Grimm?" Ozpin asked him in a heavy voice.

"Yes...why?"

"We thought...perhaps..." Glynda just sighed as she struggled to put together a sentence that would explain it for him. "Jaune, Vale has had _issues_ with wars in the past against other nations. We just thought-"

"That I was asking for soldiers to fight against other men." Jaune finished in a monotone voice. It had been his mistake, truth be told he should have clarified in the beginning, but at least it had been cleared up quickly enough before any true animosity had grown. "I'm sorry, I should have-"

"No. It's alright Jaune, we made baseless assumptions to begin with. No need to apologize." Ozpin quickly hopped on, one hand waving away his words. "Now, Vale has a system to hire hunters, I believe that might be what you're looking for."

Jaune nodded, happy to finally get some solid information that would get him on the right track. "So we just need to hire these hunters? I'd still like to set up a channel for communication of course, but acquiring the hunters comes first."

"Yes, well I believe I can help you there Jaune." Ozpin stated as he reached over and tapped on his tablet once again, bringing up the picture of a large building with massive archways and gardens, an impressive sight certainly, though it was lost on Jaune. "This is my school, Beacon Academy."

"I see..." He really didn't, but chose to simply wait for Ozpin to explain himself.

"Jaune, how do you think hunters are made here in Vale?" Ozpin's lips turned into a subtle smile. "They have to learn somewhere, right?"

Ah.

And there it was. The pieces aligned like a soldiers in formation and painted a clearer picture for him.

"So this school produces hunters." He placed a finger on the image, ignoring the small bit of excitement he felt at the image moving under his touch when he slid his finger around. "And you run it." He moved his finger over to Ozpin with a bit of incredulity. Ozpin...well he didn't seem particularly strong and he seemed a bit too young to have _that_ much experience to pass along to the next generation. Though who was he to judge how their culture raised their fighters.

"Yes and I believe we can help each other."

Jaune listened, curious as to what kind of deal he was going to propose. Really, Jaune just wanted to finish his main goals but if Ozpin could offer something better, well who was he to refuse something that could help his home. "What kind of deal?" He returned tentatively.

"I want you to come to my school as a student."

Well...That was certainly a request. A bit strange and Jaune didn't really have the time to put his resources into school. "I'm sorry, but I have a mission to complete first, and I can't be at a school while I negotiate deals with the government."

"Yes, but hear me out." Jaune sat back and folded his hands on his lap obediently, gesturing for him to continue. "Full-fledged hunters can be incredibly expensive especially for a scenario such as this, heading past the borders of our country-"

"Shiloh will provide the means of transportation." Jaune quickly interjected.

"Regardless," Ozpin nodded, apparently understanding his words but ultimately finding them lacking, "it will be **expensive** , but I can help provide a larger cohort of hunters and huntresses for much cheaper. More importantly, however, I can vouch for you in front of the Council." He nodded to Jaune, raising his drink to him. "I have influence with the Council Jaune, I can expedite any requests you might have. Especially since the Council has a tendency to be a bit...slow."

Glynda tried and failed to repress a loud snort, drawing their attention.

"Yes, well, as I was saying, the Council can be a bit slow when making decisions but I can...push your cause further and faster than you alone could."

"How?" Jaune probed the offer on its sides, looking for a reason to refuse. It seemed a bit too good and he wasn't foolish enough to think that going to school was the only requirement. There had to be something else. As a trader from Ashkelon once told him, _all trades go two ways_.

"Being the head of the only hunter academy in the entire nation gives me powerful leverage, I'm sure you can understand that."

 **That** was certainly a surprise, Jaune nearly choked on his spit. Leader of the only place that made hunters certainly seemed like it would give the man a very large voice in the governing body out of sheer necessity. From what he could remember his mother telling him, hunters were practically the only line of defense against the Grimm in all the Central Nations bar one. Sure, he knew that Ozpin ran one of them but to think that there was only one in the entire nation and he was holding the keys.

This Council probably afforded him quite a bit of voice in any decision.

"And you'll just...help me? As long as I go to your school?" Once again, Jaune just didn't believe it. Incredulity filled his voice as he voiced his thoughts.

"No," funny enough, the answer filled Jaune with a bit of relief, "In return, I'd like a direct line to the leader of Shiloh for myself. A personal one that the council _wouldn't_ know about."

Jaune paused at the deal, his brain working it slowly as he tested it out in his mind. A personal line of communication to the Lord's Council itself would be...difficult, but it could be worth it, not just for Ozpin, but for Shiloh as a whole. A direct line to a garrison of hunters would undoubtedly prove beneficial should the need ever arise again.

After some seconds, Jaune nodded to Ozpin. "I can do that. Anything else?"

"Aside from your cooperation as a student, no."

"What exactly does that cooperation entail?" Jaune asked, worried now. He hadn't really put much thought but this was a school to train hunters, but hunter he was not and no ambition to become one did he have.

"Learn primarily, whether you apply what you learn or not will be up to you." Ozpin answered, hands lifting his mug up to his lips as he took another long sip. "But most importantly, I'd like you to teach me more about your culture as you learn about ours. I know very little about the outskirts cities and I'd like to learn more before I begin dealing with them."

Ah, there it was. Information. This was all being done for information, which made perfect sense in the grand scheme of things. As long as Jaune chose his words carefully and measured what information to share, it didn't seem like a particularly dangerous arrangement.

Overall, he was sold on the deal.

"I believe that this can work." Jaune said, standing up out of his chair. "When can we start?"

"Tomorrow. For now, I'll fill you in on what you'll be doing in the near future. Don't worry about the Council just yet, we'll get to them as soon as feasibly possible."

Ozpin stood up as well, mug in one hand as the other extended forwards, open palmed.

Jaune just stared at it curiously. Ozpin coughed as he jabbed it forwards a bit towards him, nodding at Jaune with a raised brow.

"...You're supposed to shake it..." Ozpin answered his unspoken question.

"Ah!" Jaune quickly gripped Ozpin's hand in his own and vibrated it before letting go. An embarrassed smile adorned his face as he felt it heat up.

Ozpin's lips quirked into a curious grin.

"Not...conventional. You'll have to learn some general customs as well it seems."

 _Yes,_ Jaune stared down at his hand sheepishly, _I guess I do._

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter!**

 **Wow, I just can't believe that it's been so long already. So much has happened since my last updates that I don't even know what to talk about. But I think I have an idea and I'm just going to test it out here and see how it goes.**

 **-STORY-**

 **So this idea came to me kind of out of the blue one day when I just thought about how most of Remnant seems to be uninhabited or at best, sparsely inhabited. I began thinking of what it would be like if there were still people outside the cities who had survived the times though not without some sacrifices; kind of like some isolated tribes but far larger in scope.**

 **So thus, the outskirts cities were born. Cities which were apart from the main land nations, with their own governments, religions, and laws. Cities which bowed down to their own standards and weren't interested in the squabbles that plagued the main nations of Remnant. Politics, economics, and cultures all so different but similar in those differences.**

 **I just thought it'd be something interesting to explore and decided to roll with it. Of course, Jaune, being my favorite character, would need to be the main catalyst for this.**

 **We know nothing about his family or where he comes from which makes him the ideal blank slate for me to write on. Regardless though, this story will be split up into a couple of major arcs, the first one already having been planned out in its entirety -though it may change as I write.**

 **I suppose we'll just have to see where this story goes.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alrighty! Chapter two out on time with no delays! A slight bit longer than the last one and which I hope to keep up with as longer chapters seem to be far more popular and pleasing to read. If you have any feedback please leave it in either a review or a pm so that I can look at it and learn. To all those who reviewed last chapter, thank you so much!**

* * *

 **Beta:** dracohalo117

 **Chapter 2: Trouble**

* * *

A warehouse loomed dark in the night like a sleeping giant, its windows covered with tarp and protected by steel grating. Every possible opening shut and locked tight from curious passers-by and prying eyes.

Inside, Roman Torchwick watched his men work the nightly routine.

Like a well-oiled machine they unloaded his ill-gotten goods from the bullhead and stacked them on top of each other into towers rising high towards the ceiling. The warehouse was starting to get small, it seemed, from the sheer amount of dust containers he had packed into the building but that wasn't what was on his mind currently.

Instead, his brain was busy working on an answer as to why Cinder hadn't left his warehouse yet.

"Roman." A silk voice wrapped around his throat, constricting his movements like a snake before it bit down for the kill. He calmed his nerves by drawing out a cigar and planting it in between his teeth and lighting it up. Roman turned slowly.

In front of him stood Cinder Fall, eyebrow raised, beautiful smile on her face, delicate hand laid on hip, and horrifying fire hidden behind her pupils. Roman stood his ground as best he could, knowing a moment of weakness could spell instantaneous incineration.

She stalked closer to him, hip swaying ever so slightly, tempting his eyes towards them, but he held. Finally, after an eternity it seemed, she reached him and beckoned him to listen closely.

He leaned down only the slightest, wary of getting much closer.

She whispered into his ear.

"Are you having a good night Roman?" Her words squirmed their way into his brain, caressing it, digging deep for an answer.

Instead of answering, Roman simply shrugged, hoping she would leave him be to his own devices. Instead, she locked her fingers around his arm, her nails biting down hard like fangs.

"Well, it could be a much better night. Don't you agree?"

"Is this about the _distractions_ from earlier?" Roman sighed, doing his best to quell his screaming mind. He was, of course, referring to the three people who had interfered with his most recent dust acquisition and from the way her grip was heating up he was fairly certain he had hit the nail right on the head, so instead of waiting for a response, he just gave Cinder what she was looking for. "Tall woman was Glynda Goodwitch, professor at Beacon Academy. Other two, I don't know. Probably some students I'd guess." Roman shrugged as he returned to his straight posture again. He could _feel_ his pore pop open to life as hot air began to spear into them.

"Well I don't like guesses Roman." Cinder said, impatience leaking into her voice. "Make sure they aren't problems, and if they are, solve them." She snapped, turning briskly around and walking away to do whatever it was Cinder did.

Roman breathed a sigh of relief as the air returned to normal temperatures again, easing the tension on his mind and lungs.

 _Working with her is just..._

 _This is horrendous..._ Jaune groaned as his stomach turned, a pasted mush of food threatening to evacuate his body through the entrance instead of the exit. He clenched his throat, holding the bile back as he stood upright and breathed steadily through his nose. His eyes were shut tight, blue orbs hidden behind the clenching of thin flesh.

When the bullhead hit a particularly powerful bit of turbulence, Jaune felt the full acrid taste of his morning nutrition rise up into his throat, tickling the back of his tongue. But he held strong, and in a moment of true strength, he swallowed the vile matter down, sending it plummeting back where it belonged; his stomach.

His heroic feat went unnoticed.

 _How is this considered a humane way to travel?_ When Ozpin had explained that he would be riding a bullhead to the school Jaune had been confused, not understanding why they used farm animals for transportation. His confusion turned to excitement when they cleared up that he would be flying to the school and that 'bullhead' was just a name that described how his transportation would look.

And that excitement turned into muted horror when he realized that bullheads flew far higher than he had originally expected. ' _I'm sure you'll enjoy it Jaune. Flying is enjoyable for many people...' Ozpin, when I see you again I'm going to-_

The gates of his throat barely held when the bullhead lurched once again, this time nearly sending him to his knees.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see a pretty blonde girl back slowly away from him, hands up defensively and knees bent, ready to leap away immediately at the slightest sign of a disturbance. Jaune slowly lurched back up, grimace on his face as one hand gripped the metal railing in front of him with enough force to bend it.

 _This had better be worth it. If Ozpin doesn't fulfill his end of the bargain after I've had to suffer through this bull-_

His thoughts were cut off short when the bullhead lurched one more time; several students jumping at the sudden movement.

Well, Jaune wasn't too sure if they were jumping due to the sudden movement or the sudden vomit exiting his mouth. Out the corner of his eye, he could see the blonde scream and leap away.

 _Great start..._ He thought to himself miserably.

* * *

"Ugh..." Jaune groaned as he stumbled off the bullhead and onto the pavement, he leaned over and drew in deep breaths nearly kissing the sweet stable ground beneath him. It took him several grueling seconds but Jaune eventually got his bearings straight and settled his stomach down, allowing him to stand up straight and finally take a proper look at Beacon Academy.

"...Wow..." His lips barely parted as he whispered. Ozpin hadn't been lying when he told him that Beacon was impressive. His eyes widened as he slowly took in the sights; a beautiful garden that sprung up around the school, enveloping it in a cacophony of colors, large aqueducts that curved over the several streams that ran through the greenery, a massive statue of a man bearing a large shield and sword, and finally, the school itself.

If he had only one word to describe the school, he would have to go with _large._ Jaune marveled at the great spires, their height rivaling the Great Cathedral back home, which scraped the sky as they towered over the other lesser buildings. Though, Jaune didn't think of them as lesser, as that implied they were inferior. The smaller buildings were just as incredible, with great glass panes adorning every side with the walls in between painted to a perfect white.

The ride here, while painful, had been entirely worth it if **this** was going to be his place of residence for the duration of his stay.

Though his thoughts of grandeur were instantly shattered when he heard a large explosion go off in the distance, a small pillar of smoke rising up in response.

Jaune took one step forwards before stopping, debating on the merits of heading over to the scene and checking it out. The last time he had checked out a problem, it got him...

Well actually...

It had gotten him a pretty good deal, with him meeting the right people and even being given free lodging and food, so his records on problems stood at a strong one-for-one. The question, of course, then became a case of whether or not he wanted to take a chance at ruining this so-far perfect record. He cracked his neck, stretching it side to side, as he ruminated on the decision, his fingers till clenched around his sword. Jaune stood there firmly, watching the small grey cloud drift higher and higher into the air, slowing dissipating into the wind and blending with the blue sky.

Eventually he took a step forwards.

 _Well, it couldn't hurt to just see what happened._

As Jaune walked, he couldn't help but feel a small bit of anxiousness rise up within him. The whole city was so far from what he was used to; especially their technology, which seemed so advanced compared to what they had back in Shiloh. Of course, Ozpin said that he would learn more about their culture and society as time passed but the task seemed so daunting when he took a step back to look at it all. The fact that they even spoke the same language had been lucky enough, he doubted that he would get so lucky again.

He stowed away these thoughts as he came across a small scene, two girls walking away with one left on the floor. She seemed familiar though, the red hood and box...

 _Ah...well, look who it is. Guess I shouldn't have been particularly surprised._ Jaune sighed to himself as he came to recognize the young girl, sitting alone and rejected in the center of a small soot circle.

It was Red from last night.

He almost entertained the thought, just for a moment, of simply leaving the girl to her own devices as a small payback for her flippant treatment of him last night but decided against all, his mother had always told him that, ' _strangers are merely friends you haven't met yet.'_

Of course, his father had replied with a stunning; ' _Or a murdering psychopath you haven't met yet. Don't be so trusting Jaune.'_

Followed by his eldest sister, who countered with, _'Dad, you only met mom_ ** _because_** _you trusted a stranger. Isn't it weird to advise otherwise now?'_

His mother then interjected between the two before an argument could break out again and Jaune shook the memory away, having garnered all he had needed.

Mom was probably right.

Probably...

"Hello again." Jaune said simply as he extended his hand to the hooded girl, his lips stretching into a bright smile, hoping to forge a new first impression. She wrapped her fingers around his hand and pulled herself up, dusting her crimson skirt off in the process before giving him a once over. Slowly the recognition seemed to dawn on her when she realized who he was.

"You're the guy from last night!" She exclaimed, thrusting one finger into his face as she stepped back a small amount. Jaune ignored the finger and nodded. "Why are _you_ here?" She asked, her arms coming across her small chest as she leaned on one side of her hip and raised an eyebrow.

Jaune attributed her attitude to her age and ignored it. "Well, much like yourself I assume." he gestured towards the school behind her, "I'm here to learn." He bit back a little sarcastically, the soreness of last night bleeding through into his words just the smallest amount. Though she didn't seem to notice at all with her eyes widening and posture instantly relaxing.

She flashed him a bright smile and stepped back closer.

"So you're a student too?" Jaune noted the way her silver eyes traveled across his figure, searching and probing, then they widened, and her cheeks flushed red and she toed the floor. "Oh! Sorry 'bout last night...I um..." Her stuttering was cute enough, reminding him of his younger sisters whenever they got caught doing something they shouldn't have.

Jaune stopped her apology promptly, waving a hand in her face to catch her attention as he gave her a warm look. "You thought I was working with the criminal you were trying to apprehend?"

She nodded, coughing quietly and looking to the side.

"I uh...I just didn't want to take any risks...?" Her voice came out meekly, her lips twisted in discomfort.

Jaune hadn't noticed till now just how small the girl was compared to him, she was positively tiny. "Well, no harm done so I forgive you." Jaune almost stepped back with how fast the girl's perky attitude came back, smile flashing on her face once again and her eyes coming back to full focus. So...happy. As she started walking, Jaune matched her pace and followed along.

"So, thanks for helping me up earlier."

"It was only proper." Jaune replied, nodding to her, his eyes wandering slightly, searching for... "Ah. Yesterday I saw you use a very interesting weapon-"

"Crescent Rose!" Jaune very visibly stepped back this time at the girl's sudden exclamation. His fingers twitched to his hilt when she drew the large, red box strapped to her hip and unfolded it. "A highly customizable, high impact sniper rifle that unfolds into a scythe." Jaune felt his jaw hit the floor now that he could see the weapon up close, the design completely blew his family's heirloom weapon out the water, and Crocea Mors was considered one of the most technologically superior weapons in Shiloh. He didn't even have Crocea Mors with him which just made his sword and shield look even more stagnant!

Crescent Rose, Jaune could barely wrap his head around how every single part worked together to form such a masterpiece. Shiloh was no stranger to firearms but this took the concept and completely flipped it inside out. The walls of Shiloh relied on powerful cannons and massive guns that could blast apart a Goliath in one shot, but nothing in the city came close to this level of technical prowess.

"Who made this?" He whispered more to himself than anyone in particular but Red seemed to catch his words and beamed at him, her smile growing increasingly large.

"I did!"

"What?" No way. Jaune just couldn't believe it and his voice definitely held his disbelief judging by her sheepish but proud grin. He just couldn't believe someone so young could create something so advanced, it took The Forge years to develop and cast Crocea Mors. That a little girl could achieve so much more in her short life was completely and utterly unthinkable. "You...built this?" He asked, seeking clarification as he held out a finger, switching from pointing at the girl and her weapon repeatedly.

Red shifted her feet once again -he starting to think this was her go to move when she was presented with an awkward scenario. The care she put into just cradling her weapon, clutching it as though it could run away, showed Jaune just how much she seemingly cared for it.

"All students from Signal build their own weapons." This only confused Jaune even further. "I may have gone...overboard though."

Overboard...

She was a genius -that much was obvious just by looking at her weapon- but more than that, it seemed she was a sort of prodigy amongst prodigies. If every student in this 'Signal' built their own weapons then he and his home city were horribly outclassed in terms of technical ability.

 _Though weapons don't make the warrior._ Jaune reassured himself, tapping the pommel of his sword.

"So, this kind of weapon isn't...common. Is it?" Jaune asked, reaching one hand out carefully, Red moved her scythe-gun hybrid into his grip slowly, only allowing him to skirt his fingers along the blade edge.

"It's not common, but you'll still see plenty of other crazy designs here." She shrugged. "It is Beacon."

"It is, isn't it..." He murmured, eyes locking onto the hard metal. The blade itself was incredibly sharp and sturdy, though broken up into two parts, allowing it to fold in on itself, presumably to form the grip of the gun. How it kept its stability, Jaune had no clue.

"So what about your weapon?" Jaune was broken out of his musings at her inquiry. He wasn't the slightest bit embarrassed funny enough, pulling out his simple blade and shield. They were his weapons and had severed him faithfully for years, he'd never be ashamed of them.

"I just have a simple sword and shield." He answered, presenting his arms to the girl, who looked thoroughly unimpressed but smiled nonetheless.

"They don't have some kind of second form?" She asked, stowing away her scythe behind her as she took a closer look at Jaune's blade. He passed the weapon set along to the eager, young girl, who scoured every inch of the blade for some hidden secret.

"It's just a sword and shield. Nothing special about either." Well, it was the first blade he had received after his initiation into the Templars, but he didn't think sentiment was what Red was talking about. "My family has an heirloom weapon called Crocea Mors, though the only defining feature is the fact that the shield can collapse into a sheath for the blade."

She passed the weapon and shield back to him, shooting him a thumbs up. "Well, I think the classics are fine too! Nothing wrong with having an appreciation for tradition."

Jaune smiled at her words, thanking her for the compliment. He still had so many questions to ask about Crescent Rose but he didn't want to push her too much and besides, he had a far more important question on his mind right now.

"Do you know where we're supposed to be going for this orientation?"

She turned to look at him, lips twisted in cute confusion. "I was following you to orientation."

"I was following you actually..." Jaune replied, trailing off as he realized that neither of them knew where they were headed. He took a look at their surroundings now, everything seemed completely unfamiliar, and he couldn't even recognize which pathway he had originally landed on. Suddenly he felt a hand link around his and start pulling tightly.

Looking down he saw Red's fingers tightly wrapped around his as she pulled him forwards, panic written all over her face.

"We've gotta hurry! We're gonna be late!"

"Wa-wait, we still don't know-" Jaune was cut off when they shot off like a bullet, the world turning into a blur of red as the girls cloak covered the both of them, carrying them off. He couldn't see a thing and he had no idea where they were but the moment his feet felt pavement he immediately started sprinting, desperate to get his bearings straight and to not simply be carried off and away by his new acquaintance.

The blurs bled away and gave way to the real world, Red was still clutching his hand as he ran beside her. Quickly he ducked underneath a branch, using the sudden movement to unlink his fingers from hers, earning a surprised glance from the girl as she saw him keep up with her speed. He shot her a smirk and nodded, beckoning her to lead the way.

Hopefully she knew where she was going.

* * *

After quite a bit of running and desperate searching, they had somehow made it just in time to see Ozpin walk up onto the main stage to address the students.

"Perfect!" Red exclaimed as they entered the large hall, her neck craning as she searched for someone.

In the distance, Jaune heard a loud voice carry across the crowd.

"Ruby!" Red's head immediately locked onto the voice, whipping towards the source so fast Jaune worried for a moment that her face would be left behind. "Ruby! Over here!" Jaune tracked the source of the noise on his own and was met with a waving blonde figure, large grin plastered on her face as she gestured towards Red.

Red turned back towards him, smiling as she strode over to the figure. "See ya later..." She paused as her words faltered, realizing in that moment that neither had actually traded names throughout their entire conversation.

Jaune picked up on the hesitation and stuck his hand out. "Jaune, the name is Jaune Arc." She returned the gesture.

Her hand was so tiny, Jaune was almost afraid of applying any amount of pressure to his grip. "Ruby Rose!" Ruby beamed at him, shaking his hand enthusiastically. "It was nice meeting you Jaune! Let's hang out again sometime!"

They smiled at each other as they parted ways, Ruby heading off to meet whomever had called her name and Jaune staying put, watching the main stage as Ozpin slowly tapped his way up to a microphone.

"Ahem."

Jaune was surprised with how silent the room fell in that moment. Ozpin merely cleared his throat and every young man and woman immediately fell silent, turning to tune into his speech.

It was impressive to say the least.

"Welcome, future huntsmen and huntresses-" Ozpin started, one hand waving out to all the assembled students. "-to Beacon Academy. I have only one question to for all of you here today." It felt like he was locking eyes with not only him, but also the rest of the assembled students, his piercing eyes somehow reaching everyone. "Why are you here?"

Seconds ticked by in silence as Ozpin stared down at the student body, his eyes boring holes through the entire crowd, causing them to shift and turn like waves. Many bit their lips, small bits of confusion peeking through them, and some opened their mouths ready to answer the question.

Ozpin didn't give them that chance.

"You are all here, for one reason and one reason only; you," Ozpin slammed his cane into the floor before him, causing several heads to jump up, "are searching. You may not even know what you're searching for, but I can assure you that you are. Perhaps for wisdom, maybe power, or possibly even something as simple like friendship, but it matters not what you search for. What matters, is that you search and continue to search."

Ozpin's eyes traveled across the crowd, pausing on some pupils of green, silver, lilac and beyond. It finally came to rest however, on Jaune's pair of blue eyes. They stared at each other silently, both trying their best to read the other's thoughts, before Ozpin finally turned, giving way to Glynda who took to the microphone and began reciting simple instructions for everyone to follow.

"-so make sure to report at the cliffs early in the morning for team assignments. Don't be late and be prepared."

The students slowly filed one by one out of the auditorium, looking to converse and find potential partners for tomorrows test. Jaune himself waited patiently for the auditorium to empty further before he even took a step towards the door, not wanting to get caught up in the rabble of bodies pressing against each other.

"Partners." He chewed on the words, trying his best to swallow them as a feeling of uncertainty grew in his belly.

* * *

"So..." Yang hummed at her sister, laying down beside her and taking some quick peaks at her little sister's letter. "I saw you made a new friend, tall and blonde. Vomit boy from the bullhead?" She craned her neck to get a better look at the letter, thwarted when Ruby folded the piece of paper closed and huffed at her.

"Well Yang, you would have known who it was for sure if you hadn't **abandoned** me right when we got onto the campus!" Ruby glared daggers into her sister, still a bit annoyed that she had been left to dry by her dear sister. It's like she didn't want to spend every waking moment together! Which would be preposterous because sisters needed to stick together and Yang was supposed to take care of her and dad said how Yang needed to help support her and she didn't have her friends here and-

"Hey c'mon now." Yang wrapped one arm around her sister, drawing her into a deep embrace. "You did great and you made a friend to boot!" She looked down and smiled at Ruby, patting the top of her head softly, gently rubbing circles into her hair. She calmed down instantly.

A big sisters professional touch.

"Yeah, but I also exploded and some white haired girl was really mean to me and-"

"Who." It wasn't a request. Yang snarled as she looked around the room, searching for the one who would dare put any harm, physical or emotional, on her baby sister. She clutched her tighter to her bosom. "Give me some details sis!"

"Mmmphh! Yrnhhn!" Ruby slapped her palms against her sister's sides, desperately seeking air and release from the death hold. When she was finally released, Ruby took in deep, fulfilling breaths. "It wasn't a big deal, most of it was my fault anyways!"

Yang just raised an eyebrow, rising up to her full height and pulling Ruby along with her.

"She wasn't even that mean!"

"Uh huh."

"You don't need to do anything!"

"I'll be the judge of that." She had wanted Ruby to go off on her own for once without any supervision to get her used to trucking it out without using her big sister as a crutch but this was unacceptable. No one messed with Ruby Rose while Yang Xiao-Long walked Remnant.

"Her name was Weiss Schnee." Ruby said miserably, desperately trying to placate her older sister from taking action. She had only wanted to guilt trip her, not send her into over protective sister mode!

"Excuse me!"

They both froze and turned to the side to find themselves accosted by a white haired girl, boldly standing before them in her white pajamas. Ruby's eyes widened in recognition as she immediately put her hands into the air in front of her, praying for her to just leave them be.

"People are trying to sleep here! Can't the two of you be quieter?" One slender hand went to her hip as she stared down the bickering siblings. Yang was the first one to react.

"And who exactly are you princess?" Yang snarled, not looking to back down from some biting words.

"We can just be quieter, sorry!" Ruby interjected before either of them could get started, doing her best to play mediator while hiding her face. She slid between the two of them, her hands pushing them apart when they tried to close any distance. "We'll be quieter from now on, I promise!" She shot to Weiss, praying the girl would accept it and just leave.

"Wait a minute."

 _Oh no..._ Ruby thought to herself hopelessly.

"You're the girl from earlier! The one who blew up my dust!"

"You're Schnee?" Yang snarled like a wolf as she pushed past Ruby's hand, placing the young girl behind her as she stepped up to the plate against the white haired girl. Staring her down with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, glad to see someone recognizes importance around here."

"Uh huh. I recognize you alright." Yang narrowed her eyes, lips curling into a snarl, daring the heiress to respond. She ignored her sister's pleas to not refer to her in such a demeaning manner. "You owe my baby sister an apology."

"Baby sis- Oh...That makes so much sense." Weiss suddenly smiled amicably, leaning over a bit to get a better look at Ruby and turning back to Yang after. She clapped her hands together and shot Yang a condescending smirk. "Two peas of a pod, causing trouble runs in the family I guess?"

"It does princess." Yang pressed her chest into Weiss', shoving the girl slightly. "Gotta a problem with that?"

"Guys, can we please just relax!" Ruby squirmed between the two of them again, doing her best to shove them away from each other and failing miserably. Her face turned crimson from the stares they were now receiving from the rest of the students.

"You know Schnee, they're not the only ones causing trouble." A quiet voice sounded, putting the impending argument on hold as Weiss spun, searching for her next detractor. When she found her, Weiss started sneering again.

"Oh, well look who it is, miss high and mighty. Are you going to start preaching again?" She snidely remarked, her arms closing around her chest.

"No, but you are starting a scene and as you said before, people are trying to sleep." She pointed to the rest of the students who quickly turned away before Weiss could turn her wrath on any of them. Weiss' cheeks flushed red as she glared at the three of them.

"Ugh!" She rolled her eyes and stomped away to wherever her bed lay, muttering about petulant children.

"Wow, you undersold how mean she was Ruby." Yang said, nostrils flaring with every breath as she continued glaring Weiss down, trying her best to incinerate her from a distance. Ruby sighed and just ignored her, instead turning to the girl who had defused the situation.

"Thanks! I'm so sorry about the disturbance." She stuck a hand out but quickly dropped it when she realized she wasn't getting a reply. "So...I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."

"Blake Belladonna. I'll be going to bed now if you don't mind." Blake stowed her book away quietly before turning her reading light off. Plunging her little corner into darkness.

"Well...Goodnight..." Ruby said meekly before grabbing her sister and pulling her back to their sleeping area. _What a disaster,_ she thought to herself as she tiptoed past quiet students. Aside from meeting Jaune, the whole day had basically gone down the drain. Though, speaking of Jaune...

Ruby craned her neck as she looked for the familiar blonde hair of her new friend. She hadn't been able to find Jaune after the coronation speech and wondered how he was doing compared to her. Maybe he was just as miserable? A bad thought for sure but hey, it was the best she could do considering.

"Looking for tall, blonde, and vomiting there Rubes?" Yang asked, sliding next to her sister, her mood significantly improved by the removal of Weiss. God she needed to make sure she taught that girl a lesson soon in respecting others.

"I just wanted to ask him how his day was." She said quietly, brow furrowing as she pouted, unable to find him in the large crowd.

Yang paused, hearing the sadness in her voice, a small tendril of worry coming up and wrapping around her heart. Jaune was just a friend. Her first friend as well it seemed. It was **completely** natural for Ruby to want to see him and talk to him. There was nothing strange about this and she was probably just overreacting. But the tendril wrapped nonetheless. She looked around the hall as well, adding a pair of eyes to the search.

"Isn't that him?" She pointed to a lone corner where Jaune sat alone, back straight, sword and shield on his lap, cradled in his grip. Yang almost didn't inform her but relented, seeing Ruby's increasingly sad expression killed her on the inside. Frowns didn't suit Ruby one bit, her face was far too cute to be marred by such a grimace.

"It is!" Ruby smiled, intent on making her way towards him before she was stopped by Yang. "Hey!" She cried out as a quick tug of her hood sent her flying back into her sister's grip.

"Ruby, he's clearly sleeping. Speaking of which, we should also be doing soon. Tomorrow's a big day and we can't afford to oversleep." When Ruby looked up at her with another pout, Yang nearly let go, her fingers losing their tension as they slipped for a moment before tightening once more. "You can catch up with him tomorrow." She said quietly, leading her hooded sister back to their sleeping bags, turning them around.

"Yeah. I guess so..." Ruby said quietly, shooting the sleeping form of Jaune one last look before heading back to her splayed out sheets.

Hopefully tomorrow wouldn't be nearly as terrible as today had been.

* * *

Jaune sighed as strapped his armor on one piece at a time. His fingers working the several knots deftly and quickly. After several days trekking through the wilderness he had finally been able to take a shower.

And while it had taken him 30 straight minutes, he had finally figured out how the damn washrooms worked.

Turns out one had to twist the knobs in the showers, not pull them.

Hopefully Ozpin covered cosmetic damages to his school.

"Hrm..." He grunted as one of his shoulder knots slipped out from between his fingers once more. "C'mon..." Frustration began to build up, simmering as he twisted his torso around, trying to catch the errant knot.

"Do you need help?" Jaune span back forwards to see a girl with bright red hair smiling at him amicably, her hands clasped behind the small of her back as she leaned forwards just the smallest amount. "Seems like some of those knots are hard to reach, it would be easier if you had some help I believe."

Jaune nodded, turning his shoulder towards her, watching her carefully. "Thank you. I can usually do it on my own but help is appreciated."

"No worries," Jaune felt her fingers grip the straps gently, pulling them apart, then together, then over and under, then finally tightening them. "My name is Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos. Yours?" She asked, voice carrying lightness and frailty.

"Jaune Arc." He replied, standing up to his full height as he stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders and making sure that nothing was too loose or too tight. Seemed like everything was in good order to him. "Great job, are you heading out to the cliffs today as well?" Wouldn't hurt to ask, besides, if this news about partners was to be believed, it came straight from Glynda so why wouldn't he, then he needed to search for allies soon.

She nodded, her hair framed her face nicely and her armor was certainly more in line with what Jaune was used to, if a bit flowy with the hanging drapery around her hip.

"So which academy do you come from?" She asked, her head cocking to the side slightly as a curious expression adorned her face, her lips parted to reveal two rows of perfectly straight and white teeth.

"I don't come from an academy." He answered smoothly, following some advice Ozpin had given him earlier about keeping information about his home simple at first.

Her smile slipped as she seemingly digested his answer.

"Not from an academy?" She cocked her head to the side. "I didn't know you could get into Beacon with going to an academy. Home schooled then?" Her own answer didn't seem to please her as she said it with disbelief and pause, as though she were preparing herself for the inevitable correction.

"Special case. I'm actually from Shiloh," He grunted, strapping on his blade and shield. He silently wondered how many times he would have to explain this to people. He continued when he saw her pursed lips ready to voice a question. "It's an outskirts city, south of here. Past the mountain range." Her confusion didn't seem to get any better. In fact, it seemed to only deepen judging by her scrunched nose and eyebrows. She bit her lip and opened her mouth again.

"That's outside of Vale..." She said quietly, disbelief entering her voice.

"Yes, entirely correct." He stared at her as though he were stating the most obvious thing in the world, like a truth that everyone knew. "That's why it's called an outskirts city." Jaune shot her a smirk, laughing at the blush that adorned her face.

"Sorry," She defended herself, her hands coming up to placate him, even though there was nothing to placate, "I've just never heard of a city past the country's borders." Seemed like this would be a recurring theme Jaune guessed, though it wasn't particularly surprising. "It must be an interesting place Jaune. I'm sure that it's...beautiful?" She said hesitantly, hoping for a positive response. A sigh escaped her lips when Jaune smiled at her and nodded.

"Shiloh is...nice. Maybe not in the way Vale is nice, but beautiful in its own way." Shiloh didn't have as many lights, much darker place, even the woods seemed darker out there than here. The grass here was a vibrant and lively green, back home was seemed so...dull and grey in comparison. But Shiloh was home, and _nothing_ ever really beat home.

"Well, how much of Vale have you seen?" He leaned against one of the metal containers and contemplated the question. A quick mental checklist brought him too...

"Maybe a street and some buildings?"

"Oh." She trailed off a bit, apparently unsure of what to say next. "Wait...So how long have you been in Vale?"

"Today marks..." His mouth was left hanging as he did the math. One night when he encountered Ruby, one day at the school, one night at the school, and this morning. So discounting this morning... "Roughly one and a half days I think." Close enough, and even if he was off by a bit it wouldn't matter, the point was that he hadn't been here for too long.

"Just one and a half days? Sounds like we're both relatively new then!" Her hands clapped together and a happy smile adorned her face.

"Oh?" So she was new to this city as well? "Where do you come from?" He doubted she came from any outskirts city, she would have known about Shiloh if she had. The Outskirts cities tended to keep in contact with each other, sparse as that communication was, it was still there. Each outskirts city held emissaries from the other cities who negotiated various trade deals and other political alliances, these emissaries were then passed along to the next Outskirts city and so on and so on.

"Oh, I'm from Mistral." She hesitated, carefully stating her words, watching clearly for his reaction. What reaction she was looking for, Jaune had no clue, so didn't try and lie his way around her.

"I don't know where that is." Her lips opened but paused, as though she were uncertain of how to answer, but she quickly answered, still watching for his reaction.

"It's east of Sanus, in Anima."

Jaune nodded with the full confidence of a Boarbatusk in mid rotation, as though he understood what she was saying. "I need a map, where are Sanus and Anima?"

"Oh! Um here." She fumbled this time, looking at him with a bewildered expression. Her lips pursed as she dug around a small pack, pulling out a small device. It looked quite a bit like Ozpin's tablet of colors. "Sanus is the continent we're currently on..." She mumbled to him as she tapped on the small device, apparently searching for something. "Ah! Here, take a look, perhaps this will be easier!" Her confidence was charming but Jaune wasn't too sure her small glass lens would...

Well...

Guess it really was a small version of Ozpin's tablet of colors. He tried to hide his excitement at the technology and simply took a look at the small map displayed on its surface.

That was...Remnant.

Ah...

"We call this continent Nullam, which makes Mistral..." He traced his eyes to the right, "Terram Aurum. Oh..." Jaune cocked his head to the side as he placed a finger over the continent, looking back to the girl. "Where is Mistral on...Anima." He tested the word out, playing with the letters as he matched them up.

"Here." Pyrrha slid her finger next to Jaune's. "East of the great lake."

"You're on the same continent as the City of Ashkelon." He noted, taking her finger and slowly sliding it down, just a small bit till he landed on the bottom most tip of the continent, a small peninsula of land, bordered on three sides by water.

"Ashkelon?"

"Another outskirts city we trade with regularly. I believe they may even have some trade with your home city." Jaune didn't know too much about the city but the errant trader who braved the waters and ventured to Shiloh told him it was a great city of incredible wealth. Apparently far richer and far more prosperous than anything Shiloh could manage, though he personally cared little for those kinds of luxuries. But, those traders had mentioned something of a deal they had going on with one of the central nations, no names but they said the place lined up perfectly with their own culture. Jaune felt like he could guess what that meant based on how the traders looked. "So what is Mistral like?"

"It's..." Her lips twisted, well, more like they tried to but Pyrrha held them in a vice grip of a smile. "Fancy. Very...um...pretty I suppose..." She trailed off, laughing lightly with no real heart.

"Filled with rich, selfish demagogues?" He expounded, laughing when Pyrrha blew out a relieved sigh and simply nodded, one hand coming up and rubbing the back of her head. Lots of fur coats, gold, and gems, that's how the traders from Ashkelon came to Shiloh, which would have been fine had it not been for their less-than-polite attitudes.

"Precisely, but please don't tell anyone I said that!" She quickly amended, waving her hands rapidly in front of her, shushing him.

"Lips are sealed miss Nikos, I promise." Jaune nodded at her with such a serious expression she couldn't help but laugh. Her cheeks warming as blood rushed into them.

"So, about partners." Pyrrha started, her hands returning to her back as her chest inflated, a deep breath entering her lungs as though she were about to give a very important speech. "I was thinking that maybe-"

"Pyrrha!" A voice and body came between the two of them, sharply cutting into their conversation like a knife. Jaune took a step back as a particularly _fancifully_ dressed individual planted herself firmly in front of Pyrrha, lightly shoving him aside. "Have...you...found...a partner yet?" The girl breathed between every word, her hands on her knees as she arched her neck to look at Pyrrha.

"Um...I haven't found one just yet." Pyrrha's lips twisted into a sorry smile. Her shoulders were stiff and everything about her simply screamed _please leave me alone!_ Apparently the pale girl either couldn't tell or simply didn't care, either way, Jaune wasn't too glad to have been pushed out the way so rudely.

"Perfect! I was think-"

"Ahem." He coughed. Loudly. It succeeded at fulfilling its intention, it seemed, when the pale girl turned around to him, haughty expression on her face...Actually, no, it was a haughty expression all over her very being it seemed; starting from her hips, slightly to the side as she leaned a hand on it, to her eyes, which narrowed down in annoyance.

"Is there something you need?"

 _Fighting is inappropriate. I must be a good representative for my people..._ Jaune repeated the mantra in his head, stymieing the anger rising up in his heart. "Yes, I would like an apology." _Perhaps not the best choice of words to calm her down..._

"For what!?"

"For shoving me aside."

"Well I'm sorry." Her voice was like listening to two cats stuck in mating season. Grating and horrific. Her legs did some crossing motion as she bent down slightly and gently pulled her skirt ever so little to the sides.

 _What the hell was that supposed to be? Is_ ** _that_** _how people apologize here?_ Completely ignoring the strange custom, Jaune assumed the girl was just being rude with how scandalized Pyrrha looked, her lips twisted in a grimace which was quickly replaced with a carved smile when the girl turned back to her.

"I was thinking we could make a great team. The two of us!"

Jaune wanted to scoff at the thought. Clearly this girl would be better off teaming with a goat –it would better match her attitude.

"I...I was um..." Pyrrha's eyes shot over to him for an instant, her unsure green orbs meeting his blue. He shrugged his shoulders, not able to offer too much advice. "I was thinking about simply letting the chips fall where they may."

 _Definitely a phrase someone from Ashkelon would say. Guess their cultures really did mix a bit._ Jaune snorted as quietly as he could. Though it wasn't unexpected, if they really were trading then he could see culture being something exchanged along those paths. Her picking up some sayings and habits, well, just the same way he would inevitably bring a part of Shiloh here, she was certain to bring some of Mistral here as well.

"Wh-What?"

The new girl seemed completely scandalized by the answer, as though Pyrrha not saying yes had somehow physically hurt her. The way she slumped over, mouth wide open, with her arms dangling uselessly at her side spoke volumes about her attitude. She quickly recovered though, proper posture returning as she smiled, though the amicability was lessened.

"Well, I mean that's true of course, but I mean we should maybe put some effort into getting the partners we want."

It bothered Jaune, how badly this girl seemed to need Pyrrha on her team. Clearly they didn't know each other that well considering how off put the red head warrior was, but she was so pushy about it, as though she knew her over a lifetime. It just seemed strange to him.

Clearly the girl didn't know Pyrrha all that well, so why was she so set on having her as a partner?

Well, like always, Jaune simply opened his mouth and started asking.

"Why do you want Pyrrha as a partner so badly?"

Her hair flicked past his nose, barely grazing it as she spun around to him. Apparently that was the wrong question to ask judging by her expression. Jaune noted how fish like she seemed, with that gaping mouth of hers.

"Why do I...? Anyone and everyone would _want_ to be partners with Pyrrha Nikos!"

Her exclamation fell on deaf ears however, since Jaune still didn't understand what the big deal was. Pyrrha was certainly polite but he doubted that would be a reason for _everyone_ –according to Whitey- wanting her. It could be the looks of course, Pyrrha was certainly pretty enough, though he wasn't sure how that applied to other women...unless she were into that sort of thing.

"I mean," he crossed his arms, "do you even know her?" His words seemed to slam into her chest like a hammer, taking her breath away instantly with a scandalized look. Her coughing subsided quickly though and she recovered.

"The whole world knows who she is!"

"I didn't know who she was until just a moment ago." Jaune quickly pointed out. "So clearly the whole world _doesn't_ know her."

"She's Pyrrha Nikos!" She waved her arms excitedly, a little immaturely if Jaune was completely honest with himself. Even Ruby, for her young mannerisms hadn't been all that rude.

"Saying her name louder doesn't really help..." A small bit of venom that probably wouldn't help his situation but Jaune wasn't exactly thrilled with how the girl was treating him in the first place.

"She graduated at the top of her class in Sanctum!"

Sanctum? She hadn't really seemed like a church goer but he could have been wrong. Also, sanctums didn't really seem like proper locations to hold classes for fighters, the sanctums of the Great Cathedral were generally only visited by high rankers of the church.

Clearly there was only one way to handle this.

"Pyrrha?" he turned to her, his face plastered with uncertainty and hers marred with a frown. "What's Sanctum?" Jaune gestured to her tablet of magic once again like a boy who had just discovered the virtue of matches.

She stopped for a moment before her smile returned. "Just a school I went to in Mistral Jaune." Her voice polite though stifling a small giggle.

Jaune turned back around and nodded to Whitey confidently. "I see, that must be an accomplishment. I can relate quite well." His confidence was well noted as Whitey grimaced but gestured for him to continue, apparently curious. "My teacher considered me his best student for the years he taught me, easily the top student in his class."

"And where were you taught?" She didn't so much as ask as she did demand, but Jaune answered anyways.

"I was home schooled." He smoothly replied while winking at Pyrrha. She held back a very un-ladylike snort, her hand placed firmly in front of her mouth.

Whitey just growled like a particularly angry puppy. Perhaps a kitten? The distinction mattered very little to Jaune. Guess he wasn't quite as funny as he had hoped to be.

"She won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row!"

"Pyrrha?" He turned back to the girl, she didn't frown this time, simply holding a strong –and most importantly, real- smile.

"Just a fighting tournament held in Mistral, nothing huge..."

"Ah, I can relate to that as well."

"Don't come up with another ridiculous-"

"I once fought and defeated five of my seven sisters. Four of them were younger than me –some by half a dozen years, but still a rousing victory in my book!" They had no clue just how strong his three elder sisters were though. It truly was an accomplishment all things considered.

"Seven sisters..." Pyrrha murmured quietly, a shocked expression locked on her face.

"Impressive I know."

Miss Pale-and-prolix didn't seem to understand the accomplishment however, instead choosing to step forwards and jab her finger into his chest. "She's on the face of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" The hands got wavier and the expression more and more incredulous. It was like watching someone fill a balloon but when you thought they were done, they just kept...going.

"Py-"

"Just an unhealthy cereal Jaune." Pyrrha stated, already knowing before he could even speak.

"Oh, well that one is quite the accomplishment then! I don't think I've ever had my face plastered on anything." Unless his father planting his face into the side of a tree during a spar counted of course.

"How can you not know her!? She's famous!"

"I'm sure she is, but I'll hold my judgement on her till I've seen her in action." He nodded Pyrrha, holding a hand out to the girl, her cheeks redder than her hair. "Personally, I hope the chips fall favorably, for the both of us."

"I hope so too Jaune." He watched her lips form the gentle curve of a proper smile. Her fingers locked around his as she gave it a firm shake. She turned around, poorly attempting to hide her blazing cheeks. "I'll be heading to the cliffs now, I'll see you there!" She rushed out, the words blending together in a hurricane of vowels and consonants. Her feet pattered away as she exited out the doors, one hand rubbing her cheek.

"Pyrrha! Wait! Ugh!" The other girl ran off, presumably following after her.

Jaune wondered if she had garnered anything from their exchange.

* * *

 _OZPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNN!_ Jaune's mind roared as he flew through the air at breakneck speeds –emphasis on breakneck, he was sure to have some damage from the initial launch, he was certain about it. _WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THIS EARLIER!?_ When he had briefed him about initiation, he hadn't really gone into detail what would happen, just telling him not to worry and that he would be fine. _'Don't worry Jaune, initiation should be simple for you to pass!' Easy to pass my-_ ** _TREE!_** He quickly thrusted his blade in front of him while holding his shield close to his body.

 ***THUD***

Jaune felt every bone in his body rattle like a bundle of sticks –which was also what he considered Ozpin at the current moment. His blade sunk deep into the thick trunk of the tree, digging into it like an ironic metal splinter as he held himself there, one hand gripping the hilt tightly and the other one holding onto his shield. The shield was pressed into the tree as well, having pulverized the bark at the point of contact, cratering it like a meteor.

"Ugh..." Jaune groaned, resting his skull against the shattered wood, his aura protecting him from any rogue splinters which would try and embed themselves in his flesh. Peering down, Jaune saw nothing but grass and some branches far too thin to land on, so he gripped his blade and slowly pulled it out, digging the edge of his shield into the bark to support the majority of his weight. He lowered his blade a couple of feet and, with a grunt, stabbed it back into the tree, then switched the process with his shield, bashing it into the bark like a truck.

Eventually Jaune made enough progress to simply leap from the side of the tree onto the forest floor, his feet thudding into the grass. He span around in a quick circle, anticipating an attack, his shield held in front of him with his blade peeking over the top pointed in front of him.

He tensed as a low growl sounded from behind a large bush.

Jaune let out a growl of his own as a particularly large Beowulf crawled out into his small clearing, its head tracking him as it sniffed at him, catching his scent. It stalked around him in a semicircle, watching him patiently.

The attack came suddenly, the only warning being the snapping of twigs as the Beowulf lunged at him, claws swiping at his face.

Jaune drove his feet into the forest floor, bracing himself for impact as he huddled behind his shield.

 ***SLAM***

He skidded back only a few inches as the white claws screeched across the metal of his shield, tearing at the paint and leaving four long gashes across it. He lowered the shield and stabbed his sword forwards, driving it quickly into the Grimm's face, splitting it wide open, killing it instantly.

He had practiced that exchange hundreds of times with his father and another dozen with live Grimm, but the most important part he had learned was to never let his guard down for any reason.

So Jaune spun easily, shield placed firmly in front of him, when he heard another roar sound behind him. Another Beowulf came soaring at him like an arrow, a clawed paw coming down like a set of knives. Jaune easily parried the blow however, throwing the paw to the side as he slashed horizontally with his sword, sinking it deep into the creature's torso. His blade met heavy resistance as it traveled through the black body, but Jaune simply grunted and pushed it further, bisecting the heavy beast.

As it fell to the floor, turning back to black ash, Jaune let out a heavy sigh, though still keeping his ears open for a possible attack.

When several seconds passed by in silence, Jaune felt easy enough to sheath his blade.

He crouched low when he heard a rather loud hiss sound in the distance. It was faint, but he could hear the faint sounds of a fight happening a small ways away from him.

Well...

Trouble seemed to enjoy calling out to him regularly.

* * *

 **A/N: And there we go! Chapter two of my brand spanking new story! I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! I had some questions last chapter that I thought I should clear up for the masses so here we go.**

* * *

 **Someone pointed out to me how Glynda and Ozpin do not have legal authority to hold Jaune because huntsman and huntresses are NOT the law. I don't know what the official stance of the show may be, but in this story it works a bit differently.**

 **Huntsman and Huntresses are VERY clearly above conventional law in this story's universe. When Ruby intercepted Roman during his robbery, who came to help? Was it any form of law enforcement that we in our world would have expected; the boys in blue perhaps? No, it was Glynda Goodwitch, a known and clearly famous huntress. I believe that huntsman and huntresses are direct arms of the law, though they aren't a part of the government.**

 **They are a naturally forming police force due to their innate traits and qualities; huntsman and huntresses protect innocent lives and people, though not always. Much like police in our world, there are good ones, bad ones, and ones in between.**

* * *

 **More is being revealed as the story progresses about Jaune's home and the outskirts cities, two having already been named and mapped out.**

 **Ashkelon and Shiloh.**

 **Some people have already started guessing as to what traits each city will have and while some people have gotten a vague idea, no one's particularly close to the answer. As a hint, there's a reason why Jaune uses church terminology such as chaplains. Ask yourself what a chaplain is and you should be able to figure out what kind of city Shiloh is very quickly.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter took an inordinate time to properly write. I was plagued with what many people may refer to as "writers block"**

 **...**

 **Or laziness! To be frank though, one chapter every two weeks should be easy enough and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of things. So without further ado, I present to you, chapter 3.**

* * *

 **Beta:** dracohalo117

Chapter 3 – Snake

* * *

Jaune jogged through the flora of the forest, his feet kicking up the leaves as he stampeded through the grass, weighed down by his heavy armor. The fighting seemed to only be a small ways away from him since Jaune could already hear the tell-tale signals of combat coming through the tree line.

 _First person I make eye contact with. First person I make eye contact with. First person I make eye contact with._ Jaune repeated the mantra to himself again and again, debating the merits of just keeping his eyes closed until he found Pyrrha or Ruby. It wasn't that he truly minded being paired up with someone else, he could easily handle bothersome people, but he preferred having amicable company if he was going to be stuck here for a significant period of time.

He held those thoughts back though as he broke into a clearing and was met with the scene of a young man clad in green locked in combat with the black skull of a King Taijitu. Jaune saw the pale inverse side rise up slowly, jaws spread wide as it reared back for a strike.

 _Well, hopefully he's as good a partner as Ruby or Pyrrha could have been._ The thought flashed through his mind for an instant then Jaune immediately sprang into action, sprinting forwards with his shield and sword firmly in hand. He swallowed a deep breath and bellowed out as loud as he could.

"DUCK!"

To the green clad boy's credit, he didn't even hesitate, immediately dropping low to the ground as Jaune leapt above him, slamming his shield into the bleached, scale covered skull and sending it flying back. Jaune hit the floor and rolled forwards once before coming to a knee, shield firmly before him with his blade skimming the top. He looked back for just a moment.

Blue met pink and two nods later Jaune found himself a new ally.

The boy jogged up next to him, taking some deep breaths to still himself before speaking. "Its scales are tough, my bullets can't break through and blunt force isn't enough to hurt it."

Jaune nodded in appreciation at the quick bit of information, though he already knew it. King Taijitu, while certainly rare around Shiloh, weren't unheard of and Jaune _had_ fought a few in the past and knew exactly how to handle the beast. Though, looking at his fellow teens tired demeanor, Jaune was certain he would need to finish the fight quickly, so no long and drawn out plans.

"My sword can slice through its scales but it takes some effort and I need two hands to push the blade through fast enough."

The implication was obvious enough and his new ally picked it up easily.

"So no shield."

"No shield." Jaune confirmed, placing his shield onto his back and gripping his blade with two hands, his fingers tightening around the hilt. "King Taijitu fight best when its target is kept at range from its mid-section, once a target can close the distance there, it becomes increasingly difficult for the King Taijitu to maneuver its heads to attack." He nudged his chin towards the green clad boy's unique weapons. "I need you to distract its heads and stay at a medium distance, drawing its attention as best you can while I slip through."

"What happens if it goes for you?"

"Then distract it harder, shouldn't take too long anyways." Jaune patted him on the shoulder and threw him a confident grin. Realistically, if it switched targets, Jaune would probably just slam his blade into the offending face, he'd be too close for it to make any particularly precise movements making the possibility of dodging quite slim.

He rose up and narrowed his eyes as the massive snake-like Grimm coiled up from the dust and stared the two of them down with its double pair of crimson eyes. It leaned back and opened both jaws wide, Jaune could see the muscle ripple underneath the black and white scales, coiling like a spring as they stretched.

"Jaune, by the way." He quickly added before they began.

"Ren, thank you for the help."

Jaune didn't reply, instead choosing to simply gesture for Ren to follow his lead.

The pitch black head snapped forwards like an arrow, blazing through the grass with impressive speed but Jaune slipped right past it, blade held low, pointed to the ground as he dipped under the snapping fangs. He could see out the corner of his eye, Ren committing to a leap that sent him high into the sky. He twisted his body in midair and aimed downwards at the passing snake, peppering bullets onto the back of the black skull.

 _Impressive._ Jaune noted.

The head twisted around and shot back towards Jaune but Ren intercepted it as he came down from his jump, spinning in the air and slamming one foot firmly into the side of its face, sending the beast tumbling back down into the dirt, spraying up more dust that obscured Jaune's vision of the two. There was no time for Jaune to worry about that however as the pale side sprang into action as well, it's massive maw coming down on Jaune, trying to repel him as he dashed forwards. Jaune slashed upwards with his blade in a powerful, two-handed strike that slashed the snake's jaw nearly in half, forcing it to follow the arc of the blade upwards to avoid being split open like a fruit.

Bullets flew from the dust cloud into the upended chin as Ren came tumbling out of the mayhem, the black side trailing hot on his heels. Jaune was left ignored as the bleached skull twisted around and dragged itself to Ren, shrugging off the stinging bullets in its wrath, trying its best to consume the green clad fighter in a single bite. Ren dipped and ducked between attacks though, dodging narrowly each time the heads would get close, all the while sending scratching attacks and bullets to anger them further.

Jaune was certainly impressed by the acrobatic display of skill, though he wasn't exactly a huge fan of fighting in such a way himself, having been taught that keeping rank was the key to winning battles against the Grimm. But he refused to pass judgement, more so because he had now closed the distance on the midsection and was ready to do his part for the fight, specifically ending it. He lifted his blade high above him and, with the singular motion of his entire body, slammed the blade down like a guillotine. His blade sank deep into the flesh of the beast, spraying black blood against his armor that fizzled away quickly. His blade stalled for a moment as he reached the Grimm's vertebrae, the tough bone impeding his progress for just a moment before Jaune roared and threw all his weight into his blade. It didn't slash so much as crash through the beast, crunching bone under its well forged steel and shortly thereafter tearing through the short lasting muscle, veins, skin, and scales before digging deep into the dirt.

"Ha…" Jaune breathed out slowly, the air leaving his lungs gently as he eased himself down from the high of battle. Easy enough to be honest, the fight hadn't even lasted a single minute and he had been more than confident in his ability to take it on his own had his partner proved...inadequate.

Speaking of which…

Jaune turned around to face his new acquaintance and was met with a small smile and an outstretched hand, good signs all around. He took the hand and firmly vibrated it, noting the fellow teens grip was far stronger than he would have guessed –it was clearly apparent to him now that most, if not all, of these students know how to utilize pnuema.

"You fight well." Ren said quietly as he turned to the quickly disappearing Grimm, apparently impressed with how quickly Jaune had killed it when he was given an open strike. "Or at the very least, you hit hard."

"I'd say it's both." Jaune quickly replied, grinning as he drew a canteen of water off of his belt, taking a quick drink then offering it to Ren, who politely declined with a shake of his head. He then pointed at Ren's weapons with his pinky finger, the rest still occupied with his canteen. "You have an interesting set of weapons, never seen anything quite like them before." Jaune zoned in on the strange armaments, eager to learn more about them as they were a completely different style from Ruby's scythe gun hybrid. They seemed far simpler however, and a bit weaker if he had to be honest –Jaune guessed that they were more for utility that helped Ren fight than actual weapons he used to deal damage.

"They're called StormFlower," Ren presented them with an inkling of pride infecting his voice, unfolding the sickle-like blades that were underneath the barrel. "Automatic handguns with sharp blades attached to the barrels. The bullets aren't exactly meant for killing however, usually just for distracting."

Jaune nodded, silently inspecting the impressive craftsmanship of the blades. Sharp, but very small and Jaune couldn't imaging them doing too much damage against larger grim unless he packed an enormous amount of aura into each swipe. This, of course, begged the question...

"So then what _do_ you use to kill?" He asked, though his curiosity went unsettled as Ren simply raised his hands, open palmed, and shook them around slightly.

They stared at each other then, Ren just standing there with his hands up and Jaune trying his best to realize the archaic sign language of Vale. Perhaps instead of purely verbal communications they also incorporated visual signs into everyday language? Ozpin hadn't really done anything like that but perhaps it was like a dialect or something similar. Either that or Ren's sleeves were very uncomfortable and he was trying to keep them from itching his wrists while he came up with a way to explain his answer. Jaune cleared his throat, preparing himself to ask for clarification when Ren beat him to the punch.

"Aura, Jaune…I use aura to enhance the strength of my blows." Ren clarified with a small smile adorning his lips.

Jaune frowned.

"Aura...?" He said with uncertainty, trying his best to link the word with a concept he could be more familiar with. Ozpin had mentioned it earlier but had simply waved his lack of knowledge aside, telling him that figuring it out was part of the journey. Jaune thought he was just lazy. Judging by Ren's expression though, Jaune surmised that aura was something deeply important for hunters and that Ozpin was indeed, just a lazy bastard.

"You…don't know what aura is?" His voice was probing, as though he were trying to solve Jaune like a puzzle. "How did you cut through the Taijitu without aura?"

"I infused my strike with pnuema, sharpening the edge of my blade while simultaneously strengthening my body." Jaune answered candidly. All members of the Templar Order were taught how to use their pnuema to enhance their fighting. At least, all the ones who eventually wanted to become Knights Templar, many others were content without going so far. Jaune wasn't one of those people. "Then please, define aura for me so I may better understand it."

Ren gave him a strange look but reluctantly complied.

"Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our-"

"We call that pnuema." Jaune interrupted, having immediately come to the conclusion just by hearing the words; manifestation of our soul. Aura. Pnuema. Funny how it was always the small things that were just different enough to cause confusion. Jaune sighed, ruminating on how future conversations would go and how many other little things would be just different enough that he would not think to ask until the issue came up naturally. Still though, he would have to get used to calling it aura not that he was in Vale and not Shiloh. No need to cause undue confusion. He traced his eyes over to Ren and saw a ripple of curiosity form in his eyes. Jaune nodded to him. "If you're wondering where I'm from…"

He settled his mind for another long retelling of his home city.

He was starting to worry this would become a common issue…

* * *

"That's…quite the background."

"Not really, I've lived my whole life behind a wall."

"So have most people, but most walls we know of are located inside the Central Kingdoms, not outside of them."

"Eh, guess it's a matter of perspective isn't it?"

"Maybe. So you're more used to fighting in a group than alone?"

"Yes," Jaune threw his answers out easily though he was careful to pick and choose what information he gave out and withheld, not wanting to give away his hand so to speak. "I fought in groups for the most part, strength in numbers and all."

"Wise choice, is that where you learned how to fight King Taijitu so easily? Having faced them with your group, I mean."

"No actually," Jaune turned his mind to the past. "I learned that particular strategy from my father…" His mind opened up and a memory flooded the forefront of his thoughts.

" _Jaune, a King Taijitu looks terrifying, at least at first glance." His father said to him, taking a sip out of his canteen as he gestured for Jaune to sit down before him. His voice was deep and comforting and Jaune never felt afraid being outside the walls when his father was beside him. "At first it seems faster than a beowolf, stronger than an Ursa, and tougher than a death stalker. But it's got one weakness Jaune, can you guess it?"_

 _Jaune's young face scrunched up as he sought an answer that would please his father. Seconds ticked by before he finally spoke. "It's dumb?" He finally offered, utterly unconvinced of his own answer and flushing red when his father laughed boisterously._

" _Haha!" His father's baritone laugh rang through the woods as he shook his head. "No Jaune, but that answer's close." He pointed to his stomach and nodded at Jaune. "King Taijitu know their weakness well and fight around it...intelligently enough. The real weakness though, is that they were made fucking terribly." Jaune knew his mother would kill them if she ever heard the language father used whenever they trekked out into the wild but he loved it anyways. He knew for a fact that father NEVER spoke to any of his sisters that way and it made him feel a little special. Like it was their little father-son secret to have. But he shook those thoughts away and got back to the situation at hand._

" _What does that mean?" He quizzed his father, pursing his lips._

" _It means exactly what I said Jaune." His father replied, taking another deep swig from his canteen. "King Taijitu were made by a mad God; two heads located on opposite sides of ONE body, who the fuck thought that was a good idea?" Jaune nodded along as best he could but still felt unsure._

" _But it IS strong and fast and tough." Jaune noted. "Why would two heads make it worse at fighting?" Two heads meant twice the fangs and twice the...twice the heads! It had more stuff to attack with!_

" _Jaune, it has two heads which can move independently of each other." His father explained blankly. "Imagine if your contingent had two leaders, how do you think you would all operate?"_

 _Ah...That made sense now. You couldn't have more than one leader at a time. It just didn't work._

" _Jaune, fighting a King Taijitu is simple," His father got up now, smiling down at him before pulling him along gently by the shoulder. "All you need to do, is get in the middle," he put a palm into the air and sliced it down, "and slice."_

 _He took a sip out of his canteen again and Jaune looked back to the scene they were quickly leaving behind._

 _A colossal King Taijitu slowly dissipated into the blue sky._

"From your father huh?"

Jaune nodded, stowing away the old but helpful memory and paying full attention to his new partner. "So he's the one who taught you for the most part?" Another nod and Jaune decided it was his turn to start asking questions.

"So I'm guessing you learned how to fight in the Central Kingdoms?"

"That's a pretty solid assumption." Ren chuckled so Jaune expounded on the question.

"Signal perhaps?"

Ren shook his head this time. "Each of the four nations have their own _official_ school sets, Vale's is Signal and Beacon, but not everyone begins their career as a hunter there."

That answer certainly perturbed Jaune, who was always use to such a rigid and strict structure where the only warriors were those who learned at the church.

"How can you keep track of all the hunters then if some can learn and hunt without ever having received formal education for it?"

"...Well..." Ren frowned at him, his answer stuck on his tongue, still finding a way to form properly it seemed. "Not all who learn to fight end up becoming hunters for one." Jaune didn't really understand that, but he nodded along anyways, allowing Ren to continue. "It's just that the ones who want to be hunters will obviously find themselves in Beacon."

"So everyone who wants to be a hunter ends up _having_ to go through the proper channels of education at some point?"

Ren shrugged. "Well, it's not exactly a rule set in stone, but it is convention and most people wouldn't have the resources to activate their...uh...their pnuema without the help of the professors." Ren paused in his explanation as he pushed a branch out the way, holding it till Jaune passed by. "I've heard that sometimes, students who have learned to fight in more...extenuating circumstances have been allowed to attend Beacon in the past in fact."

It made sense, at least most of it did, to Jaune. Making sure there was an official channel to produce fighters that protected their kingdom was, of course paramount to ensuring their survival, but when the population was so large, there was bound to be a few who learned on their own. Allowing those wayward warriors a path back into the system would make it easier to keep most of them from becoming raucous individuals with no regard for safety. Though it still left one question...

"What of the one's who learn, but decide _not_ to become hunters?" Ren's confusion was noted and Jaune began to feel the inklings of another disparity on the edges of his mind forming.

"They...find out what they want to do in their lives?"

"But what if they become...criminal? Certainly Vale wouldn't want such dangerous individuals imply running around."

"Well," Ren's frowned deepened as he shared Jaune's confusion. "If they do end up becoming criminals, we deal with them after the fact."

"After the fact? So after they've already become criminals and done wrong." Jaune surmised easily, holding the disbelief in his voice back as best he could. Luckily, it didn't seem to leak all that much, at least Jaune thought it didn't since Ren hadn't reacted in any way. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"I...suppose it could be dangerous. We tend to ascribe to the belief of innocent until proven guilty here." Jaune's disbelief definitely showed after that statement but when Ren opened his mouth to speak, he paused, seemingly unsure of whatever he wanted to say or ask. After a few seconds of silence, Ren finally spoke up again. "How does Shiloh handle...men who learn, but never become?"

"You might not like the answer I give." Jaune warned grimly, his lips in a tight line, fully realizing how much...stricter his culture would seem to the relatively sheltered teen. When Ren nodded, though a bit shaky, Jaune explained it as calmly as he could. "We kill them then throw the carcass far from the city walls in the forest somewhere to rot."

Jaune cringed at Ren's horrified look but held his tongue, fully understanding the gravity his words must have brought. He could only imagine the thoughts that were running through his fellow teens mind at the moment, though he assumed he wouldn't have to imagine for long.

"You...You kill them? Even though they've done nothing wrong?"

"They did something wrong when they decided to abandon their oaths."

"But that doesn't make them criminals!"

"Actually, it does make them criminals since they broke the laws governing soldiers in training."

"That still doesn't make them evil!"

"Who ever said they were evil?"

Ren choked back a response, taking deep breaths to calm down, receding from the heated exchange. Jaune appreciated the patient attitude and waited quietly, taking the time to survey their surroundings as they stopped.

After some time had passed and Ren had apparently organized his thoughts, he began speaking again, all traces of accusation or venom gone or at least hidden away.

"So, if someone breaks a law in your city, they're just...executed?" The hesitation in Ren's voice was clear as the sky and Jaune was deeply regretting his decision to unveil that bit of information.

"No Ren, very few crimes actually warrant execution in Shiloh."

"And desertion is one of them?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

"But why?" Ren began again, eyes shut tight as he listened as hard as he could. Jaune appreciated the gesture enough though and decided to divulge just a bit more, as a token of appreciation.

"Because Shiloh, for all of its strength, is still fragile." He explained calmly, recalling his father's explanation to him when he had been young and had the same thoughts. "It seems cruel –no, it _is_ cruel" Jaune quickly amended when Ren opened his mouth to interrupt, "to dispense death to someone whose only crime seems to be an unwillingness to fight, but I want you to think on this; can you ever un-teach someone how to use their...aura?" Jaune waited for Ren to shake his head before continuing. "Exactly, these are men who know how to fight. How to kill. They're dangerous Ren, whether they want to be or not."

"Knowing _how_ to fight doesn't make someone dangerous though." He was quick to point out but Jaune shook his head and frowned.

"Except it does. At least in my city it does. Imagine then, if your society was beset every moment of every day by external threats of all sorts. In that kind of world, internal conflicts could be the tipping point between survival and death." He held up a finger, stopping Ren from interrupting and barreling forwards with his words. "These are men who've abandoned their oaths to protect their friends and families. Who've abandoned their promise and commitment to push outwards against the external, and when they have the strength to push, but never push outwards, where might they end up pushing next?" Jaune sighed, the disagreement clearly on Ren's face –there were far too many nuances and small little details to be explained that they really didn't have the time for. Perhaps in the future he could expound on it. This would have to do for now though. "A civilian who fights against other civilians _might_ be able to kill one or two before the chaplains stop him, but someone who can use aura? They can slaughter dozens in seconds with their bare hands, it would be a slaughter before the chaplains got to him."

"But what if they never intend on-"

"It only takes one person Ren." Jaune drew his canteen and took another drink, wetting his dry tongue. "Grimm are drawn to negative emotions." Luckily it seemed that was common knowledge between the two since Ren just accepted his statement without much fuss. "One dead man might bring a small bout of sadness for the family he's associated with, but if that one man goes out and takes a dozen others with him before he goes down..."

"Panic could erupt..." Ren finished for him easily, still frowning though, his lips twisted in displeasure as the words entered his ears. The frown wasn't as deep as before however, and his eyes were a bit softer now. "It...It sounds difficult." He finally sighed, resignation written across his face.

"Maybe," Jaune shrugged, "but the last man to abandon his oaths had been many years ago and we haven't had an internal conflict on any serious level for decades. So it seems to work just fine."

"Still, it sounds like Shiloh is certainly a...rough place."

Ah, Jaune wanted to refute that somehow, but knew internally that Ren wasn't wrong, Shiloh was far rougher and more brutal than the Central Kingdoms in almost every sense it seemed. From the amount of blood spilled on a daily basis to the way people spoke; it was like comparing a broadsword to a dagger.

He still preferred the broadsword.

"I guess it is," Jaune smiled at Ren, attempting to give him some level of hope for the future, "maybe one day, when Shiloh has grown strong enough, Vale can teach us to...lax some of our customs." A long reaching dream, certainly, but it still helped to say it. He offered his canteen forwards.

Ren took it and took a quick drink.

"Hopefully one day."

They began moving again, onwards in their search for the relic pieces.

"So then," Jaune's voice cut through air as he tried to awkwardly maneuver into a different, more enjoyable topic, "do you know any of the other students here then? I assume most of the students came from Signal, but you said you never learned from Signal so..."

Ren released a held breath and shook his head, laughing a bit as he replied. "Most of the students here seem to be from Signal, and the village I came from only really had a select number of students, with only two passing. Me and...Nora." He said the name with a little embarrassment and flushed just the slightest. Jaune smirked and stowed the knowledge away for later review. "Nora's an old friend, we've known each other since we were little. In fact, she really wanted to-"

The two of them stopped dead in their tracks as they heard the tell-tale shaking and shuddering of trees that could only be produced by a Grimm stomping its way through the forest. They drew their weapons and stood back to back, listening carefully as _something_ crunched and crushed the flora.

It grew louder, which most definitely meant closer, so Jaune took place in front of Ren as they slowly turned in the direction of the noise and raised his shield, bracing himself behind it and crouching just enough for Ren to point his firearms above his lowered form.

Jaune held his form steady as the crunching increased to a heavy thudding sound, the sound of an Ursa judging by the weight behind each step. He could hear, just edging into his ears now, the roaring and growling of the Grimm as it stormed towards them, slamming aside the forestry in its rampage.

Then he heard the giggling and paused.

"Awk!"

"Oh god..." Ren's hopeless voice only served to put Jaune more on edge but as Ren put his weapons away, Jaune, though struggling to rationalize it, did the same, standing back as Ren motioned for him to follow him back a bit.

"What is it?" Jaune hissed. "Enemy? Should we run instead of fight?"

"No...Not an...enemy, I guess."

"Then who?"

"Jaune," Ren started, giving him a sorry smile, "there's only one person I know that would ever _ride_ a Grimm without giving it a second thought."

"How do you know someone's riding it?" Jaune squinted at him, but Ren just nodded confidently to himself.

"I know Jaune. I just do." They both turned in the direction of the sound, and Jaune placed his hand over the hilt of his blade, ready to draw it in an instant. Ren turned to him a final time and quickly added a statement. "Also, that's a...um...a sloths mating call I believe."

"Sloths don't sound like that." Jaune replied instantly though he was only met with Ren's slightly despondent form.

"I know Jaune. I know."

An Ursa crashed through the tree line, its black body streaking through a tree as it reared up onto its hind legs, roaring loudly. Jaune immediately began pulling his sword back out, but Ren stopped him with a pat to his shoulder.

"Just wait..."

"Ren!" A high-pitched feminine voice sounded from the large Grimm, or more accurately, as Jaune would quickly discover, behind it. The Ursa groaned, stumbling back a few steps before slowly collapsing into a pathetic heap of black fur and white bone. A girl rose up from the wreckage, peeking her head out above the decaying fur.

"Hello...Nora." Ren stole a look at Jaune as he greeted the newcomer. Jaune nodded back, but internally was reassessing everything he had originally thought about this 'Nora'.

 _Attractive...and also a bit insane it seems._ Jaune didn't want to voice his thoughts, wary of the girl who was now parading around Ren, poking him all over as she checked him for injuries or "pain-hurt symptoms" as she seemed so keen on calling them.

"Nora, this is...this is-Nora I'm fine." Ren quickly chided her, poking her in the head and pushing her away. She grinned and immediately took her place beside him -Jaune felt a small grin stretch on his lips with how close she got to him, practically attached at the hips those two seemed to be. "Nora, this is Jaune." Jaune waved calmly. "Jaune, this is Nora." She...he wanted to say she waved, but it was more like watching someone's entire body vibrate with sheer energy and exuberance. It was unsettling to say the least.

"Hiya!" She strode confidently up to him, back straight and hand stretched out to him. Jaune did what he did best and shook the hand, vibrating quickly before letting go, leaving one very confused Nora who just cocked her head to the side, smile sliding off for a moment before it came back full force. "So...You're Renny's partner?" She quipped cheerfully.

Jaune nodded in affirmation and the girl took a drastic turn, her face suddenly filling with faux despair as she turned back to Ren, clutching his shirt tightly as she wept into it.

"I was too slow!" Ren awkwardly patted her head and threw Jaune a look that said; this is normal, completely normal. "How could you miss my sloth calls!?" She accused, ruefully looking up to him through teary eyes.

Ren shrugged and gave her a quick hug. "That's not how sloths sound in the first place Nora." He smiled warmly at her indignant expression and continued. "Also, teams are comprised of four people, we just need to find you a partner and then make sure we all end up on the same team."

Nora seemed to brighten like a lamp immediately at Ren's proposal, her eyes drying immediately as she stood straight and pointed into the forest.

"Alrighty then! Quickly now! To victory!"

"To...victory." Ren repeated, shaking his head in mirth as he shrugged at Jaune, silently mouthing at him to just play along for now.

Jaune laughed, willing to do just that.

* * *

"-and wouldn't you know it, it was an Ursa-"

"It was actually a Beowulf."

"An **URSA** , the size of a bullhead!"

"A Beowulf the size of a lion."

"Ren!" Nora huffed at him, waving her arms as she shushed him. "This story is supposed to make you look _cool_ in front of your partner!"

"Maybe so Nora, but we should stick to the facts at the very least."

Nora blew a raspberry at him and the idea itself, scrunching her nose as though the thought of telling a boring ol' _normal_ story was nothing more than a bad smell. "Yeah, but then how will he know how awesome you are?" She thrust her finger at Jaune, who as amicably listening to her tall tales, nodding along to every _fact_ she threw out.

"Yes Ren, how can I survive not having heard about your impressive tales?" Jaune snorted, eagerly awaiting for Nora to continue her grandiose tale of bravery, self-sacrifice, and impressive cooking abilities. The last one seemed a bit...forced however. Over the course of several...stories, Jaune had come to realize a single, all-encompassing fact about Nora; the girl didn't have a singular though process but instead had a thought tree that branched out rapidly wherever it could, filling as much space as possible, as quickly as possible. She seemed to jump from thought to thought with ease, leaving Jaune in the dust as he tried desperately to keep up. "I can't imagine working with someone I know so little about, and this seems like a solid compromise."

Ren sighed, bowing his head in resignation as he waved Nora's rambunctious ramblings ahead.

"Exactly! Now anyways, Ren just _punches_ the Deathstalker-"

" _Deathstalker_? What happened to the Ursa?" Ren quietly murmured behind Jaune.

"-and it flies backwards with the force of ten elephants! No! Twenty elephants!"

"That's...quite a bit of force." Jaune surmised with a grin, throwing it over his shoulder to Ren. "Where was that when we were fighting the King Taijitu?"

"You guys fought a Taijitu!?" Nora exclaimed, coming between the two and gripping Ren tightly on the shoulders. "Why didn't you invite me!?"

"You weren't there." He really didn't seem like he had a proper answer to give, though Jaune didn't blame him for it. It didn't seem like there was ever a _right_ answer you could give the girl.

"I _could_ have been if you had used your sloth call!"

"...I'm not doing the sloth call Nora..."

"It's how we'll find each other in the wilderness Ren!"

"We can buy some flares for that."

"This way will save money!"

"Flame Dust Flares cost maybe five lien for a pack of twenty."

"It's accurate!"

"Ren, I feel like this is some sage advice." Jaune said seriously, his expression deepening as he sided with Nora traitorously. "I mean think about it, what happens when you run out of flares or don't have any to begin with?" He ignored Ren's threatening look and barreled on, nodding to Nora who gleefully accepted his assistance. "I think you should practice the sloth call with her."

The withering look Ren gave him didn't deter him a single bit, probably since Ren's version of a withering glare was about as cold as a lit fireplace.

"Oh, so shouldn't that mean you need to practice as well?"

 _No Ren, this is about you..._ Jaune panicked for a moment, his breath hitching before he caught himself again. "I have my own call sign Ren, it's called shouting my name _very_ loudly." A confident look solidified his claim as Nora nodded with all the wisdom she had. "I'm sure it's a bit too advanced for you right now, which is why you should start with the sloth call."

Ren shook his head and opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off when a high pitched scream echoed through the air.

"EEEEEEKkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!" The scream flew high over them, carried off by an enormous Nevermore.

Nora, unsurprisingly to Jaune and probably Ren, was the first to break the silence and start talking again.

"See Ren! Now that's a sloth call!"

"I thought sloth calls go awk?"

"There you go!"

Jaune shook his head with some mirth before taking the lead and pointing his sword in the direction the oversized raven had flown.

"C'mon, that person might need some help!"

"Or, they could be using it like a steed, just like me!" Nora helpfully supplied, flapping her arms like a bird. "Flying is faster than running after all."

"No one does anything quite the way you do Nora..."

Jaune couldn't help but agree with Ren's statement, smirking as they began running towards the source of the now distant screaming.

"That's just cause no one's as good as me!"

"Or maybe because riding a grimm..."

It was looking to be an... _interesting_ little trek.

* * *

By the time the three of them caught up to the Nevermore, they had entered into a large clearing, on the far side of which was a small ruin filled with five people. The Nevermore hung above the weak cover like a dangling knife as it circled above, cawing loudly as it scoped them out.

Jaune took a closer look and saw four recognizable figures and one not so recognizable one. The Nevermore screeched loudly as it twisted in the air, sending a plume of feathers down to the group which were blocked by a wall of ice the erupted out of the ground.

 _Ice mage?_ Jaune thought for a moment before cataloging it for later consideration when the Nevermore flew high for another pass.

"Stay low and don't attract that things attention just yet." He ordered, ducking low as he narrowed his eyes, observing the situation in full. The Nevermore itself wasn't too much of a problem, but it had the other group pinned down it seemed, and even worse was that it didn't seem too keen on landing anytime soon, keeping it safely out of reach. Ren and Nora stalked up next to him and Jaune started throwing a plan together on the spot. "We need to get them out of that corner. It's hard to fight a Nevermore when it's got the open sky and you're stuck with your back to the wall so priority one is getting them out of there."

"So how do we get its attention?" Ren asked, drawing his Stormflowers.

"I can shoot grenades at it?" Nora supplied helpfully and Jaune just cocked his head, utterly confused.

"What?" Jaune whipped around to her confounded. "You can shoot grenades at it?"

Nora nodded, viscous grin on her face as her war hammer folded up into a...

 _That's something else..._ Jaune numbly thought as Nora presented her grenade launcher to him, her eager fingers already pulling at the trigger.

"Okay then, your shots can reach it right?" Nora's eager nodding said it all so Jaune continued plotting. "Perfect, hit it with just a single shot, that'll be enough while we track it back towards us, where we'll have the forest as cover."

"Uh Jaune?"

"From there, it won't be able to attack us with ranged attacks like that feather storm it shoots out, allowing us to dictate the rules of engagement."

"Jaune..."

"We can't stay too far, of course since it'll just go back to harassing the other group, who needs to stay behind that wall. It's an open field in front of them and it'd be too dangerous to try and make a run for it. So we need to keep its attention while we fight it from the forest, that means-"

"Jaune, one of them just left cover."

"What!?" Jaune whipped his head around to see...Ruby, he guessed, judging by the crimson cloak, sprinting around the ice wall to line up a shot...

In the open grass...

With no shield...

Jaune almost popped a lung with how loud he roared.

" **GET BACK BEHIND COVER YOU FOOL!** "

Ruby came to a screeching halt as his words apparently reached her ears. He was pleased to see her quickly turn around and immediately dive back behind the safety of the ice wall that protected their group.

"Jaune!" Ren pointed to the sky, where the Nevermore had now turned towards them, its baleful gaze zeroing in on their group in the grass. "I think you got its attention."

"I didn't even shoot a grenade..." The sheer dejection in Nora's voice made Jaune want to tell her she could take a shot now if she wanted, but he held back and barked out a different set of orders.

"Ren! Take Nora and back off into the forest first, I have a shield that can block its feathers so I'll be fine on my own leading it back." Jaune grunted, hefting his shield up in front of him and sprinting ahead of the two. He took a quick peak to make sure that they were, indeed backing off a bit and taking a flank route to the group in the ruins. Satisfied with their trajectory, Jaune went back to the problem at hand, the massive bird barreling towards him.

It opened its wings, sending a black spray to him that forced him to kneel and sink behind his shield. The feathers plunked against the aura infused metal and bounced off easily, giving Jaune some time to think of a plan.

Nevermore.

Big flying Grimm.

That apparently shot feathers that looked a lot like his...

He shook the errant thoughts and focused down on what he knew for certain.

Nevermore were rare in Shiloh, only a few had even been _seen_ near the city or around it, which was strange enough since other outskirts cities fought them quite often. Regardless though, they fought other flying Grimm before so he assumed the tactics that worked on them would work similarly here.

Which meant clipping its wings.

But first, he needed to lead it towards the forest again, so Jaune rose off the floor, peeking past his shield as he slowly stepped backwards. Another volley slammed into his shield, sending him back a slight bit, digging his feet into the grass.

He glanced back for just a moment to see Ren and Nora climbing up some trees to get a better vantage point, Nora taking careful aim with her grenade launcher as she readied to unload.

Then he turned back and saw out of the corner of his eye, the second group emerging from behind the ice wall.

 _Did they just leave cover again!?_ Jaune thought incredulously as the group poured out from behind the ice wall, apparently intent on helping him. It was a nice sentiment that warmed his heart, but none of them had shields except for Pyrrha and dodging could only be done for so long.

Then Ruby fired a single shot that rang out and Jaune felt his heart sink like a rock in water as the Nevermore twisted in the air back towards the other group. To their credit, they split up almost immediately, spreading out thin to avoid getting cut down all at once, but the Nevermore didn't seem to care as it reared into the sky again, its wings spread wide and ready to send a flesh rending volley out to the young girl who had shot it.

 _Oh no you don't!_ Jaune immediately dropped his shield and raised his right hand high into the air, anger etched deep into his face.

For a moment, a split second that seemed to last far too long, nothing happened.

In that moment Jaune breathed deep and memories filled his mind, stories that had been taught to him by his father. Dangerous stories. Stories that held power.

Stories known as miracles.

Then thunder began gathering into his palm, a brilliant display of electricity that buzzed from his chest into his shoulder and up his forearm, coiling around it as the lightning rested in his palm, spreading thin into a long spear.

Jaune twisted his torso and locked his eyes on the Nevermore, which turned its head to look at him.

Blue met red and Jaune split the air with a powerful throw.

The Nevermore cawed as it dipped down the moment Jaune's palm flew forwards, just barely ducking under the arc of lightning that tore through the sky, the spear of lightning thundering like hammer against an anvil as it singed the edges of its bone masked face.

Jaune swore under his breath as he reared back one more time, silently praying as more power surged through his limb.

But before he could lob the spear forwards, the Nevermore rose high into the sky and screeched, the wail ringing through the air and deep into his bones as it settled there.

And it flew away.

* * *

Ozpin sipped his mug as he watched the scene unfold before him, his eyes narrowing as the Nevermore flew off into the sky, leaving a bewildered group of students behind.

"Well, that was certainly interesting." He quipped after a second or two of deliberation. He set his coffee down and looked to Glynda, silently asking for her opinion on the matter. She frowned and crossed her arms.

"Maybe the lightning scared it off?" She supplied but Ozpin was doubtful.

"Glynda, Grimm are never _scared off_." He peered at the screen a little more closely, watching the tall blonde once again take control, directing Miss Nikos and Miss Valkyrie to gather the knight pieces from the relics as the rest of them kept watch for stray Grimm. "Even the smartest of Grimm don't get _scared off_. Perhaps they'll avoid conflict altogether, but run? No, Grimm never run after they've committed to a fight."

"Why else would it leave?" Glynda asked quizzically, taking place by his side and watching the eight students talk amicably, introducing themselves as they began their long trek back to the school.

"Hm." Ozpin declined to answer, instead choosing to blacken the screen from viewing, leaving it behind as he stood up and motioned for Glynda to follow. "We need to prepare the teams and their names. And Glynda?"

"Yes Ozpin?"

"Get me Oobleck, I need him to take up a new responsibility."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you all for supporting my story, I hope you guys continue to enjoy my work as it comes out! Leave a review if you have any criticisms or questions concerning the story and the direction it's going in. I'll try my best to reply to you in a timely fashion!**

 **Next Chapter: NEW YEARS EVE! (December 31)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter 4 is finally out! Woo hoo! This one didn't take quite as long as the last since I had a bit more time off of work to get it all going. Last chapter, quite a few got the dark souls reference, which is nice. I play that game pretty much religiously lol and I almost exclusively play a miracle nuker that spams lightning spear at point blank range. If you want to play with me sometime, send me a pm with your steam name and we'll see if we can set something up!**

 **Anyhow though, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Beta:** dracohalo117

Chapter 4

* * *

Juniper, abbreviated to JNPR.

It was certainly an interesting convention, giving contingents personalized names to go by, though he didn't exactly see the benefit in doing so. Soldiers responded just as well to 73rd contingent as they did Team Ruby, which was abbreviated to RWBY strangely enough.

He didn't remember there being a 'w' in the word 'ruby.'

Also, was it really an abbreviation if it was just as long as the word itself? He had to put away these important ideas and concepts when he heard his name being called once again.

"-led by Jaune Arc."

He smiled warmly, cracking his neck side to side as he stepped up and lightly vibrated Ozpin's hand, accepting his position as team leader. To his sides, Ren and Pyrrha wore pleasant smiles, a far cry different from the look Weiss Schnee had on her face when Ruby had been declared leader, another debatable issue of its own though. Nora herself had been ecstatic, eagerly bouncing up and down as she congratulated him on his position while simultaneously ensuring Ren that she was just as proud of him for all of his accomplishments as well and that nothing Jaune did would ever take those away from him.

Ren just rolled his eyes and laughed and Jaune felt a bit easier now, with the many dangers of the Emerald Forest behind them.

As they left the large auditorium, strolled down the long hallways, and finally found their dorm room, Jaune imagined it would be similar to the garrisons back at home but was pleasantly surprised to find a well-furnished living quarter, fit with comfortable luxuries and even a private bathroom.

"Not half bad." Nora whistled behind him as she shrugged on past and surveyed the room. She poked and prodded at every nook and cranny she could, searching for any slim defects.

"It's certainly comfortable." Jaune agreed candidly as he claimed the bed nearest to the window, an easy escape route should it ever turn out necessary. He laid his weapons underneath the bed, stowing them away carefully, leaving the hilt of his sword close to the edge for easy retrieval. "A bit more than I'm use to if I'm honest."

"Oh, and what were the sleeping quarters in Shiloh like?" Ren asked, claiming the one next to Nora, leaving Pyrrha with the bed closest to the bathroom door.

Jaune lifted the soft sheets up with a single hand, rolling the material between his fingers before letting it fall back to the bed.

"Sparse." He answered clearly, chuckling quietly.

"Sparser than a bed, a few drawers, and a single bathroom?" Nora quizzed, poking her head up from Ren's shoulders, leaning over the lankier boy. He fell forwards, letting her tumble over him. "Ren!" She squealed.

"Had the same things I suppose, just a bit more…" Jaune searched for the word, clicking his tongue as he lost it.

"Simpler, perhaps?" Pyrrha supplied hopefully, sitting next to him and across from Nora, who had finally taken a proper sitting position on Ren's bed. "Were the furnishings just not as lavish?"

"Yeah, I'd say that's about right. My bed was a mattress that was about as comfortable as sleeping on a boulder and my drawer was a wooden box."

"What about the shower?" Nora asked, rubbing her scalp with her fingers.

"We had a hose and some soap." Jaune snorted, holding his hand over his mouth at Nora's blanching face while stretching back a bit. His body shook with exhaustion from the day's events and judging by Ren's yawn, the gentle nodding of Pyrrha's head, and Nora's…reduced enthusiasm, he wasn't alone in wanting rest so he voiced the thought. "We should call it a night." He said, getting up and walking over to the lamp to turn it off. "Organizing the room can be done tomorrow, so don't worry too much about it Nora." Jaune pointed at the girl who seemed ready to bring up some disagreement and directed her to her chosen bed. "For now, let's just sleep off the stress of the day. Agreed?"

"Agreed." The three announced, each one falling into their beds, sleep overtaking them easily as their heads hit their soft pillows.

Jaune felt a bit jealous as he turned off the lights and went to his bed, sitting up in it.

Waiting.

As some light snoring began–he held back a laugh when he realized it was amazingly coming not from Nora, but Pyrrha- Jaune got up and silently slinked out the door, making sure to take his sword and shield with him as he left.

* * *

"Interesting day so far mister Arc?"

Jaune scowled, refusing to answer as he glared the man in front of him down with a burning stare, baggy eyes trying their best to light him on fire. Much to his annoyance though, Ozpin didn't seem the slightest bit disturbed in the face of his muted wrath.

"Perhaps you'd like some coffee?" Ozpin offered the mug forwards as a peace offering and judging by Glynda's surprised look, it wasn't often this happened. Jaune let the offer hang in the air for a moment, turning his glare even harder for a moment, looking to elicit _some_ response.

He sighed when he didn't get one; so he graciously took the mug and sipped it a tiny bit.

The effect was _powerful_.

The strange drink ran through his system like a lightning bolt, bringing new life to all of his functions and vitalizing the ones that had been turning off. He felt energy swell up inside of him like a tide and sweep away the fatigue in his brain. He didn't know what coffee was yet, but he'd need to send it back home as a possible substitute for amphetic-powder.

"Feeling better?"

"No." Jaune lied.

"Well, we'll disregard that for now and start again." Ozpin straightened his back and watched Jaune like an eagle. "What is your first impression of Beacon?"

His first impression of Beacon? Well, Jaune had quite a bit to say; some of it was filled with strong expletives and potentially ruinous language, some of it was filled with awe and wonder, and a small part was honestly just unmoved. The architecture of the school, the weapons, and the technology were certainly all impressive but…something about it was…lacking for him.

A part of it might have been the lack of discipline he saw in the students. Oh, many of them were well trained fighters, no doubt, but they were good at fighting other _humans_ , the way they fought Grimm however…

He couldn't see a single one of them battling in a large formation of _any_ sort.

"Beacon is-" did he say unimpressive? Would that offend Ozpin and turn him away from helping Jaune? For a moment, Jaune thought about lavishing Ozpin with praise for the school but he shot that down immediately. Ozpin didn't seem like the type who was swayed by sycophants and baseless praise. What words could he say? What words would elicit the best response? Jaune didn't know, and funny enough that had been one of the reason's the High Templar had sent him out in the first place, telling Jaune that his _refreshing honesty_ would be for the best.

"Perhaps you need more time to-" Ozpin started, a worried look coming onto his face as he flicked his eyes towards the clock.

"No!" Jaune leaned in and waved his hand quickly. It was late but he preferred to do this sooner rather than later. Looking past Ozpin's shoulder showed the shattered moon of the world, its fragments hanging in the air like a portrait of a shattered marble. They said the moon broke open as the God of the sky was born, his grand form unfurling like a tapestry as he spread his black wings and descended onto the world below. It was an old story, one that some believed and many didn't, but Jaune liked it nonetheless. The story held a certain vibe that Jaune found captivating. Perhaps it was the mystery, maybe the wonder, but at the end of it all, what mattered most was that the story was _interesting_. Funny enough, he guessed the same could be said for the school he was now stuck in. He turned to Ozpin and smiled. "Beacon is interesting."

Ozpin seemed to relax at his words, leaning into his chair, pushing the mug onto the table as he chuckled.

"Interesting." He clicked the syllables out. "Well, is interesting good or bad?"

"I'd say neither." Jaune shrugged and folded his hands on his lap. He felt the energy wear off and his eyes start to fold close, but he held them open with some force. "Interesting just means that. I've found some interest in this place. Who knows how that'll turn out?"

A low laugh and Ozpin closed his eyes. "I suppose we'll see soon enough. You may head back to your dorm mister Arc. I hope you get some well-deserved rest."

He did exactly that.

* * *

"And I punch the deathstalker, sending it flying like an elephant across the dunes of Vacuo!"

"I swear I've heard this somewhere before..." Jaune mused quietly to Ren. The two of them turned to Nora, who was too busy excitedly pantomiming professor Port's every move to even be bothered by their stares. Ren dodged a stray blow from his childhood friend and a small twitch formed on his brow as his notes were swept up in her frenzy of excitement once again.

"Gah! Nora!" Ren hissed, bending down to grab his notes. Jaune didn't really consider them notes however, as Ren only had five full words scrawled across the top of the page in neat print; _Grimm Studies by Professor Port_. The rest of the page was relatively pristine, except for a black and wrinkled area where Ren had started and erased his notes repeatedly, apparently unable to find any real purchase in the lesson.

Jaune couldn't blame him though.

It wasn't that Port's lessons were...uninformative, he was certain one could garner some tactical advantage listening to his Grimm slaying tales. It was more because of his...

"I punched it in the mouth! Spraying black blood into the sky like paint!"

...bombastic language.

"Hah..." Pyrrha yawned, for probably the first time this entire lesson which was an accomplishment she should have been proud of, her eyelids fluttered as they struggled to stay open. She turned to look over at the rest of them and smiled weakly. Ren returned it with a grimace as Nora once again shoved his notes off the table and Jaune just nodded in solemn silence.

A sign of understanding to his fellow warriors that the greatest challenge was nearly over.

"But what good is a lesson-"

"That wasn't a lesson." Jaune muttered under his breath. The express purpose of a lesson was to teach something to the students, something new and practical for them to utilize in their lives. Stroking one's ego didn't quite make for a good lesson in his opinion.

"-without a practical example!" Peter rolled on undisturbed and his statement certainly attracted the attention of several students who lazily raised their heads off their tables to look up at him. Peter stroked his moustache, pulling on it as he stared each student down, many of them flicking their gazes up and away to avoid his eyes. "I'll need a helper for this one!"

If the word 'unenthusiastic' was the theme today, then the groan that sounded from the class was the details.

On the other end of the spectrum though, Weiss Schnee's loud and particularly high pitched volunteering would be the support Jaune attributed to the theme; 'desperate'.

Port hummed a bit louder and stroked his moustache with more...conviction? Something of the sort, but what Jaune wasn't sure. What he was sure about was how he seemed to observe Weiss for a moment, giving her a quick look over before dismissing her claim.

"I apologize Miss Schnee, as much as I'd like to see you work your magic," he wagged an eyebrow and Weiss seemed to try her best to become one with the chair, apparently regretting her decision now, "I've already got a fighter in mind!" He turned to Jaune and the two of them locked eyes, though unlike the other students, Jaune didn't bother averting his gaze. He steeled his eyes as Port thrust his index finger at him like a spear and called him down. "Jaune Arc, I, and everyone here, would like to see what a _man_ from the outskirts can _really_ do!"

Most of the students seemed confused at the proclamation but Jaune just nodded and smoothly slid out of his seat without complaint. He had been expecting something like this for a while now; a test that would let the so-called faculty assess his baseline abilities and techniques. Just another way to gather some information about Shiloh, though Jaune grumbled in his mind that they could have just asked him in private. Such a public affair was uncouth and made for far too much talk.

"Good luck!" Ruby whispered to him in a not-so-quiet voice as he passed her by.

"Thank you." He pleasantly replied to the younger girl, also accepting the thumbs up that came from her sister who sat next to her. He trailed his eyes for a moment and landed on Weiss, whose eyes were filled with indignation and disbelief. A hint of dismay also breached the surface, breaking in waves for a moment, but it disappeared beneath her light-blue orbs so quickly Jaune doubted that he had even seen it in the first place.

He stepped up to the plate so to speak and watched Peter pull out a large metal cage, dragging it across the room from where Jaune currently stood.

"Behold!" With some regal, Peter gripped the cloth covering it and tossed it aside to show the captured Boarbatusk within. Its tusks slammed into the metal bars with rage to produce a horrid shrieking noise that grated on the ears. Jaune drew his shield and sword and waited for instruction which came shortly after. "Now Jaune, show us what you can do!" Those were some terrible instructions if he was being honest. Peter clicked open the door to the cage and allowed the Boarbatusk to step out into the open classroom.

Jaune breathed in and held his shield before him, waiting patiently as the Boarbatusk grunted and swung its head back and forth like an angry pendulum. It was a waiting game, where two parties watched each other for the first move. The first mistake.

Humans were naturally better players at it.

The Boarbatusk squealed and lunged at him, forming into a rapidly spinning hurricane of ivory and fur.

Jaune stepped to the side as it close the distance, allowing the rotund, rotating boar to sail into the empty air that he previously occupied. Time seemed to slow and Jaune's blade flashed out like lightning, sinking deep in the Grimm's exposed flank. The rotating didn't stop though, even as Jaune's blade pushed apart muscle and bone, shredding flesh as it was pushed through by the Boarbatusk's own doing.

That instant passed though and the swine went crashing into the ground behind him, decaying all the while.

It was silent for a moment, just a single second really, till Jaune heard Nora's loud proclamations.

"WOO! THAT'S OUR LEADER!" She clapped boisterously, pulling in a smiling Ren and a grinning Pyrrha, both of whom were clapping as well, though perhaps not quite as boisterously.

"Not bad vomit boy!" Jaune was surprised when he heard the voice cut through his team's cheering. He quickly found Yang and Ruby who were clapping just as enthusiastically, partners pulled along reluctantly with them.

"Great work Jaune!"

Jaune rolled his eyes and headed back up to his seat, though he first stole a glance at Peter. He was clapping just as enthusiastically though, nothing out of the ordinary it seemed.

"That's how you do it! That right there ladies and gentlemen!"

 _Yes, that was exactly how you were supposed to do it._ Jaune thought as he sat back down.

It was practically textbook.

* * *

"It was textbook I tell ya'." Peter Port happily munched on a brownie that Glynda had brought from the cafeteria. Across from him sat Ozpin and Oobleck, both of whom were listening with intense interest. "Slide to the right, stabby stab," Peter made sure to throw his right arm out like spear, jabbing some unseen foe, "and the Boarbatusk was dead. Textbook."

The two across from him shared a strange look before turning back to him. Ozpin cleared his throat.

"We already know he's trained. That much was obvious just from reviewing footage captured during initiation." He leaned in and tapped a finger on the table. "What about his mannerisms though? His gait, stance, hell, how did he _look_ at the Grimm?"

"Ah?" Peter hummed in confusion, munching down and grinding the chocolatey goodness with his pearly white teeth. He swayed his head back and forth as he wracked his brain for some memories. "Well, he was...hmmm...Ah! I'd say he was calm."

"That's no-"

"No, no, no." Peter waved his hands and shook his head, reaching out and grabbing another brownie to stuff in his mouth. "He wathn't juth calm."

"Swallow my friend, this is important information." Oobleck urged him and Peter complied, taking the time to swallow before continuing.

"Ah, really great stuff right here!" Peter chuckled at their stringent looks. Jaune Arc from the outskirts. That was all Ozpin seemed to be interested in nowadays, even with the threat of the Queen, her pawns, and their dastardly plans baring down on them all. "He's observant. Never strikes first it seems. Counter fighter obviously." He barked out, easily listing Jaune's qualities. "He's used to fighting in a group as we saw earlier but he can hack it on his own pretty well."

"Observant..." Ozpin hummed and looked deep into his mug of java. "How observ-"

"There's no tricking this boy Ozpin." Peter took a stern look at his old friend, shaking his head slowly. "I've seen men like this before. They'll see right through you and poke holes where you don't want holes if you try."

"He's 17."

"Then he's a perceptive teen. Either way it doesn't matter." His words were confident and he waved away his boss' doubts. "He probably trusts you about this far I'd say." Peter stood up and took some steps back, his hand outstretched as he gauged the distance. Satisfied with the distance, he looked at Ozpin and grinned. "Oh yes, about this far would be right."

"Swords length I presume?" Ozpin's massaged his temples gently and sighed at Peter's solemn nodding. "So then what should we do with him?"

"Stay the course, don't play any tricks, and don't bother filling his mind with useless shit." He offered it helpfully but Ozpin didn't seem quite as impressed by the list of decisions. "He won't be swayed like the other students. Let him create a reason to help you, don't try and force it."

"A reason to help us." Ozpin mused quietly to himself, swirling his coffee gently. He looked out the window and saw the trees, blasted with incredible shades of green, though even now, he could see them fading away as fall edged up to them. "And what would you propose as _reasons_?"

"Nothin'. He'll come up with his own in time." Peter answered succinctly and started chewing on another brownie. He got up to excuse himself. "Now if you two gentlemen don't mind, I'll be taking my leave. Have to plan tomorrow's stories."

He stepped out of the room, plunging it into silence as Ozpin sat there with Oobleck, the two of them contemplating. Ozpin craned his neck to the clock to see it a small bit past noon. Lunch would be over soon, then it would be Glynda's class.

"Oobleck."

"Yes Ozpin?"

"Stay the course, nothing changes."

"Of course, as expected." There was no trepidation in his voice, merely confidence in his leader's decisions.

The clock rang true and the two of them vacated the small lounge.

* * *

Jaune rolled his head and cracked his neck loudly as he walked down the stairs, through the hallway, and past the doors.

Silence reigned around him. Draping across the walls, floors, and ceiling like tapestry as he tapped forwards into the small arena where Glynda Goodwitch stood firm and ready, watching him like a hawk as he made his way to the center. Standing there as well was another teen named Cardin Winchester.

Tall, brawny, and strong.

Also dumb, slow, and linear if he had to guess.

"Alright boys, the rules are simple; the two of you fight until one of your auras goes into the red. When I call the match, the fight _ends_." The way she said that last word sent a chill down Jaune's spine and stamped in his brain to not go too far. Looking at Cardin though, he wasn't too sure the fellow student would follow that particular rule. "Am I understood?"

Jaune nodded.

Cardin just scoffed.

"Not my fault if he loses so fast I break something." The smirk that stretched across his face said it all and Jaune realized he was sparring against a child. A large child, but a child nonetheless.

Jaune wanted to rebut him with some choice words but Glynda's glare turned icy and while it wasn't aimed at him, he could still feel the chill crawl across his skin. From the way the other students on the second floor shivered, he could safely assume he wasn't alone in this.

"Mister Winchester, no accidents. Am I understood?"

His defiance lasted all of one tenth of one second, an accomplishment really.

"Yes ma'am." The subdued teen replied, looking awkwardly to the floor as he accepted her rules.

Jaune had to give it to the woman, she was far tougher than the other professors it seemed, at least so far, and while other students may have found it overbearing, he found it a bit comforting himself. He was used to rigid discipline and hard lines being drawn in the dirt for students to obey.

"Then draw." She stepped back and allowed the two of them to take their stances up.

Jaune drew his sword and shield and held them steadily before him, peeking over the top and peering at Cardin. The other teen just stood there, confident and cocky as can be. Maybe he was planning something? Perhaps a trick of some sort that Jaune wouldn't see coming. He doubted it but he had been proven wrong before and it wouldn't be completely out of the question that Cardin was just good at misdire-

"Yah!" Cardin roared and leaped forwards, his mace arcing through the air as it came crashing down towards Jaune like a meteor.

 _Huh, I guess pretenses can be right sometimes._ Jaune thought to himself as he dodged to the right and raised his shield, angling it so Cardin's blow slid smoothly off the steel. Jaune held off on throwing out a counter swipe when he saw Cardin's smirk stretch on his vicious lips. His eyes traced down to the mace even as he threw himself behind his shield.

He heard Cardin's fingers tighten around a strange trigger, producing a slight click.

"Argh!" Jaune skidded back a few steps when the ground beneath Cardin's mace exploded, sending sharp pieces of stone flying through the air at his face. They clanged off his shield but the shockwave had nearly blown him off his feet and had left his knees just a bit shakier than usual. Jaune calmly lowered his shield though and watched Cardin remove the embedded weapon from the ground, tugging hard and ripping it free from the stone prison in another spray of rubble.

Cardin snarled at him, lips curling as he pointed his mace at Jaune.

"What's wrong? Can't stand up to me like a _real_ man?"

Jaune ignored his words and responded by slowly stepping forwards, shield still in front of him though his sword was angled diagonally towards the floor now.

"C'mon, I thought you were some sort of _great_ fighter from outside Vale."

"You can do it Jaune!"

"Do you even know how to use that sword of yours?"

"Just focus!"

"Or were you just taught by some animals out in the forest? Some kinda wolf-boy?"

Cardin's laughter, the students jeering, and his teammates cheering.

He let his mind filter them all out as he focused on the target in front of him.

Cardin was slow, at least slower than himself, though his blows were strong. His armor was likely thick as well which meant Jaune was at a disadvantage, being armed with solely a longsword. He could probably thrust and pierce through but it would be risky should the blow fail partway and get stuck in the armor. No, Jaune didn't like taking those kinds of risks and he wished he had a mace on him.

But he didn't have a mace right now and he didn't think Cardin would let him borrow his, which made the situation all the more difficult.

Though...

Bishop Hammond had always told him that _improvisation_ was key to being a strong Knights Templar.

"What the hell?" Cardin snorted loudly as Jaune placed his shield on his back and wrapped his armored hands around the blade of his sword, seemingly holding it upside down with the pommel pointed upwards. "You know you're supposed to hit me with the pointy end!? You do know that, right!?" He jeered and the rest of the students followed suit, most out of confusion more so than actual derision by now.

Jaune glowered at him, pushing his desire to just pummel the boy to the side as he flexed his legs, getting ready to launch himself forwards. With a grunt, Jaune pushed off and immediately broke into a sprint, body blurring as he closed the distance like an arrow.

"Hyah!" Cardin swung high again, looking to crush Jaune with one blow but missed when Jaune slid to the left, past the arc of the blow. He threw his foot out then, kicking backwards and catching Cardin's arms, flinging them off the handle of his mace and more importantly, off the explosive trigger. Cardin stumbled back as his weapon slid out of his grip but quickly recovered and scrambled to get his fingers around the mace ad pull it out of the ground.

Jaune was already on him though, swinging his improvised mace as hard as he could towards the orange haired teen's mid-chest.

His crossguard connected.

Cardin's body seemed to fold inwards as the thickly forged metal dented the armor easily, slamming into him like a Goliath as Jaune leaned his shoulders into the blow, throwing every pound of effort he could. He heard a very satisfying cough tear out from between the burly teens lips.

Back at home, the bishops, always so focused on the human body and how to cure its many ailments, had spent much time studying and labeling parts its inner most parts and how they all interacted. All men who wanted to become Templar were required to learn such knowledge and Jaune was no exception.

But there was one place that Jaune's father had personally _taught_ him about through...practical experience.

The solar plexus.

He could feel his crossguard depress that part of Cardin's body, roughly flattening it as Jaune continued in with his blow.

His brain started supplying him with a quick overview of what Cardin was going through, pulling at his own experiences to fill any gaps.

He could imagine that Cardin probably thought he would be fine after the moment finally ended, even as he flew quite a few feet through the air. More than likely the boy, for a few scant seconds would be more worried about his pride than the impending storm brewing on the horizon.

Then the coughing started.

Cardin found himself stuck on the floor hacking out desperate breaths as he struggled to get new air for his now hurting body. He was probably still fine overall though, plenty of air leftover and stored away for his muscles and more-than-likely diminutive brain. That would end shortly however, as his diaphragm was probably busy squeezing down like an anaconda, pushing on his lungs to continue expelling what they had.

Jaune calmly started walking.

Cardin struggled to stand, toppling over when he got to his knees because his lungs just refused to take in any air. His brain was probably screaming out now, desperately telling them to start doing their job and take in some oxygen for the beginning-to-starve-of-oxygen body. The lungs were more than likely screaming back, telling the brain it needed to tell the diaphragm to stop squeezing and that the throat was blocked off because of it. Of course, the brain was struggling now with these requests, muddied down and bogged in the panicked craze taking it over.

Jaune continued strolling over in a casual manner, sheathing his sword.

Cardin wheezed like a dying man as he ended up on all fours, face turning red like a cherry. His brain was more than likely oxygen starved now and was struggling to form coherent thoughts and complete sentences. Jaune could practically see it sending weak signal after weak signal, pleading as best it could for something, just _anything_ , to start working again. The previous bravado was all but gone by now.

Jaune reached the teen who was drowning on dry land and watched him with a raised eyebrow.

Cardin reached out with a hand and Jaune could see the light in his eyes slowly fading as his vision started to black out now, the colors fading away as the brain realized it didn't have the energy to process such information. The brain, realizing it wasn't going to be getting any oxygen soon, was probably reaching out to pull on the universal failsafe lever called _fainting_ ; that would probably solve the issue for the diaphragm and allow the lungs to start taking in air at a regular rate again. This would save whatever meager brain cells Cardin might have had.

Jaune reared back and punched Cardin in the jaw as hard as he could, expediting the lever pull.

The lights went out like a snuffed candle.

* * *

"That. Was. AWESOME!"

Jaune and co. flinched at Nora's bombastic retelling of his fight against Cardin, her voice loud as she proclaimed how her leader had _totally wiped the floor with that prick_. The two teams tried to calm her down as Glynda shot them a hard look, luckily it seemed Nora had gotten the detail and decided to relegate her voice to a more appropriate level.

Appropriate for Nora that was.

Jaune certainly felt good winning, he doubted there was anyone who would feel _bad_ about it, but he was starting to wonder if Nora had even watched the fight, or if her eyes had somehow supplied a different version.

"-and then you walked up like a demon, staring him down like he was an ant!"

"Did I really look like that?" Jaune worriedly asked Pyrrha who gently patted him on the shoulder to reassure him.

"Not at all Jaune."

"Then you just, pow!" Nora swung her fist wide into the air, testing her might against an invisible Cardin's chin. "Right in the kisser too!"

"We were all there Nora." Ren, bless his soul, tried his best to keep his ecstatic friend under some level of control but had failed miserably. He just sighed and shook his head, moving away from her unbelievable retelling and instead congratulated Jaune. "That was impressive, you won that quite handily."

"You certainly did quite well Jaune." Pyrrha chirped, her hand coming up, pausing for a moment before she rested it on his shoulder. She flushed a bit. "You fight very well, if a bit unorthodox. Maybe we cou-"

"Seriously Jauney boy, you've got a way with weapons, dontcha?" Yang came in threw her arm around his shoulders, leaving Pyrrha to step back a bit. "Holding it backwards though. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that!"

"Ah, I um..."

"Know how to handle your _tools_?" Yang cooed, leaning in and breathing into his ear.

"For the love of..." Weiss sighed and pulled her teammate back, shooting her a derisive look. "Could you at least _try_ to keep your hands to yourself?"

Yang blew a raspberry and bit back. "Why? Jealous?"

The two looked ready to ignite into another argument but Glynda Goodwitch put an end to it prematurely when she called the next bout.

"Yang Xiao-Long vs Pyrrha Nikos."

Yang stuck her hand in Weiss' face as she heard her name being called by the imposing professor. She shot her teammates a confident glance before heading down to the arena, though not before throwing one last biting statement to her pale haired teammate.

"If you want something to be jealous about, just watch this fight Weiss-cream!"

Jaune shook his head, used to such confidence, though usually from males more often than females. Probably just a demographics issue though; more females fighters meant a higher likelihood of there being some cocky ones in the mix. At least, that's what he hoped. Pyrrha herself seemed confident as well, though it seemed loquacious bragging wasn't something she was particularly interested in. She held herself in a powerful manner, easily striding past the rest of them as she shared nods with Jaune and the rest of team JNPR. Her back was straight, arms steady and unshaken as she made her way out into the arena.

She disappeared down the stairs and almost as quickly as she had vanished, she reappeared through the large double doors that lead to the stone floor.

Glynda clarified the rules for the two quickly, both girls easily accepting the repercussions for foul play.

"Very well then, begin!" Glynda stood back and a hush fell over the room as the two combatants eyed each other in the center of the ring. Jaune still didn't understand the full weight that supposedly came with Pyrrha's impressive history, but he was starting to get a feel for it with how every student seemed to lock right onto her. Every pair of eyes was glued firmly on the red haired fighter, following every move she made in the ring.

Jaune, and everyone else he assumed, watched Pyrrha smoothly retrieve her spear and shield, the latter of which slid down her shoulder and onto her waiting arm. Much like Jaune himself, she positioned Akoúo in front of her and held Miló above it, ready to stab forwards once a target presented itself.

Yang herself took on a simple stance, her gauntlet laden hands held up before her and ready to strike. A hand-to-hand fighter it seemed which meant she started with an obvious disadvantage to the armed and dangerous Pyrrha who had the range to keep her at bay. She shifted her weight easily from foot to foot though as she began to circle Pyrrha, seemingly scoping down her opponent for the moment.

After several seconds it seemed Yang had either garnered everything she had needed –Jaune doubted that since Pyrrha hadn't exactly shown anything by just standing there- or had just grown impatient. Either way, Yang pounced forwards like a lion, bounding across the stage in explosive fury as she reared her right fist back for a powerful punch.

Pyrrha didn't seem interested in having that sort of exchange though and just parried the blow to the side, allowing it sail past her head by mere millimeters as she thrust out with her spear, looking to jab Yang in the abdomen.

Yang used her left hand and sent it low, blocking the blow with her armored first but flying backwards regardless as Pyrrha simply _pushed_ the girl away. As she flew back, she punched out twice more and Jaune was flummoxed to see fire erupt out her hands and fly through the air. She flipped in the air and landed on her feet, looking up just in time to see Pyrrha already in her face, spear once again jabbing towards her face. Yang ducked under the sharp steel and threw out a series of jabs, all of which were blocked easily by Pyrrha's shield.

 _Impressive..._ Jaune thought to himself as Pyrrha shoved forwards with her shield arm, knocking the fisticuffs fighter back to a more manageable range. Yang dashed in again though, quickly looking to close the distance but Pyrrha once again swung out with her spear, this time looking to take Yang's feet out from under her. Yang jumped up into the air above the sweep and reared her fist back once again, looking for another large blow.

Her fist came down on concrete however, when Pyrrha simply rolled forwards out of the way, easily avoiding the clash once again.

Jaune could see the snarl on Yang's lips as Pyrrha casually stood again.

Like a hurricane, Yang roared while sprinting to close the distance, this time using her gauntlets to propel her forwards even more quickly. She started glowing with heat as she sped up the pace fists blurring as she began pounding down on Pyrrha relentlessly.

Amazingly, it seemed Pyrrha was completely unaffected by the increase in speed, calmly dodging or deflecting each blow while somehow still maintaining some kind of offense, continuing her simple stab routine. Though, despite her cool visage, Jaune could still see some sweat forming along her brow, a testament to Yang's own skill as she pushed the talented girl further and further back. It seemed for a moment that Yang would eventually whittle down Pyrrha's defenses like a grindstone.

Then Miló shifted into a sword.

Funny thing about swords and spears, in a world filled with firearms, people expected them both to fulfill the same duty of close quarters combat; at least, the common citizens of Shiloh thought as much. Jaune and most Brothers knew better though, a spear was difficult to use when your opponent was right there, constantly harangued you with attacks, and never let you back off. But a sword...

Pyrrha's style, stance, and very _being_ seemed to switch as Miló shifted into a blade. All of a sudden the roles switched and Yang was put on the burner as Pyrrha came out with a flurry of strikes and stabs, all of which were as equally precise as her spear thrusts but were more importantly, quick. The increase in mobility allowed Pyrrha to more easily throw swipes in as she dipped around Yang's rapid firing fists, slowly forcing the blond to switch strategies as she realized she was taking far more battering strikes than her opponent.

He wanted to say Pyrrha had turned the tides but he would be wrong. This was more like watching a tsunami in action; the sea pulling back ever so slightly to give reprieve before the tidal wave of water finally crashed down. Hell, Jaune hadn't even seen Pyrrha actually get struck with a blow _a single time_ , each one thus far having been dodged, parried, or blocked. She had clearly been in control the entire time, only giving ground when absolutely necessary.

Yang threw out a wild right handed haymaker, looking to find at least _something_ in the midst of blows that had amounted to nothing. Lucky for her, Pyrrha seemed to have been caught off guard by it, having not expected Yang to simply accept the harsh stab to her left shoulder.

Jaune had expected the strike to do some damage, as Yang was clearly the _physically_ stronger fighter.

What he _hadn't_ expected, was to see Yang's blow seemingly just slide off to the side.

"What?" He murmured quietly, squinting to see the events unfold just a bit clearer.

But the moment was over and he couldn't tell if what he saw had been correct or not. Maybe Pyrrha had dodged and he had just blinked, obfuscating his vision just enough so that it seemed like something that hadn't actually happened, had happened. Either way, Yang's blow missed and Pyrrha was back on the offensive, shrugging the other girl off and quickly returning another set of dangerous swipes that sent the blond flying back across the stage like a pair of dice, tumbling over and over before coming to a harsh rest.

"Yang!"

Jaune could hear Ruby cry out for her sister and he looked up to see Yang's aura monitor -another incredible technology he would have to ask Ozpin about acquiring for Shiloh- just inching into the red.

"Alright!" Glynda ran between the two of them, whip in hand as she split the two apart immediately. Not that she really had to though. "That ends the bout, Miss Xiao Long's aura has fallen into the red!"

Pyrrha immediately placed her weapons onto her back and ran up to Yang, probably worried about losing a newfound friend. Jaune was relieved to see Yang accept Pyrrha's hand, grinning all the while as well, though the pain of losing was still clearly evident in the girl's eyes.

"I can't believe Yang lost!" Ruby exclaimed next to him, worriedly bouncing from foot to foot. "I've never actually seen her lose to anyone except dad..."

Jaune raised an eyebrow at that statement.

"Of course she lost." Weiss scoffed, tossing her hair back with a flick of her head. "She was against _the_ Pyrrha Nikos."

"Yes, yes she was..." Jaune quietly mused, once again tuning out the ensuing argument to see the two combatants walking towards their group. He walked forwards and waved them down, smiling as he congratulated them. "That was an incredible fight!"

"Thanks!"

"Thank you Jaune."

Yang's response was a bit more despondent than usual though, which was expected, but Pyrrha's quiet acceptance was a bit strange. She ducked her head down and hid her face with her hair, though he could still see her lips stretch into a happy grin.

That was enough to convince him she was probably fine.

"Yang! Are you alright!?" Ruby flew past him in a blaze of red into her sister, throwing her tiny arms around the older girl while pushing her face into her stomach.

"I'm-urk! I'm fine Ruby" Yang pushed her little sister off. Or at least she tried to but when that failed she resorted to placing the flailing girl into a powerful headlock. "It's just a loss Rubes, it'll be okay." She grunted out each word as she playfully held the girl by her neck.

"Well I for one was _impressed_ by that performance Yang." Weiss cooed and Jaune snorted at the way Yang's visage dropped like a stone. "When I fight someone, I'll be sure to remember everything you did in your fight," the pale haired girl pretended to flick something away, "and do the _exact_ opposite."

"Hey! You had to spar some weakling unlike me, who had the legend herself!"

Pyrrha shrunk in embarrassment, hiding herself as best she could.

"Oh yes, Yang Xiao Long, Beacon fighter extraordinaire with a rousing record of what is it now Blake?" Weiss turned to the remaining member of team RWBY who finally spoke up with a chuckle.

"Zero to one."

Yang's horrified look garnered plenty of laughs, even as she immediately began offering to fight every other member between the two teams to Glynda, who simply ignored her requests and instead opted to end the class for the day. The students filed out in a rabble, pushing past each other as they chatted about how great they had done or how bad others had looked while fighting.

Jaune's team walked with Team RWBY who coincidentally had their dorm room just a hallway across from theirs, which made it a fair bit easier to stay connected.

"Ah, Jaune." Pyrrha's light voice sounded from beside him. "So I was wondering, do you have any critiques of my fight?" The way she turned her head made it hard to see her expression but Jaune just shrugged and gave her an honest reply.

"Not really, you handle your weapons well, better than myself for sure." He started ticking off points with his fingers. "You have good mobility, good strength, and a solid grasp on the fundamentals it seems." He slowed the pace down to give them some distance with the rest of the gathered ensemble. "If anything, your only flaw would have to be your lack of raw firepower, though that's what teams are for, to fill each other's gaps."

She nodded thoughtfully and opened her mouth to ask another question, though she was interrupted when Weiss came back into the picture.

"I'm _always_ available for assistance you know!" She pushed past Jaune and took her place beside the supposed champion, unabashedly abandoning her teammate.

Jaune looked to Ruby and felt his heart strain a bit at her sad face. The poor girl looked like someone had kicked her puppy. She opened her mouth to say something but awkwardly seemed to realize she had little to say so simply closed it again. Of course, Weiss barely even noticed it.

"Oh, thank you for the offer Weiss." Pyrrha smoothly transitioned into a professional demeanor again. "But I think it would be best if we stuck to our teams for assistance since it'll help foster better cooperation."

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"I know, I'll work with my teammates too, but that doesn't mean we can't help each other." She jabbed a finger towards Jaune. "Besides, you're clearly the best swordsman on your team considering mister backwards wielder over there."

"Ah!" Pyrrha gasped and nodded to herself before quickly pushing back to Jaune. "Before my fight with Yang started I wanted to ask you about that."

Yang also leaned in and threw in her two cents.

"Yeah, we never really got an answer about that. What's up with that _unique_ technique?"

Weiss seemed to be left in the dust so to speak as she huffed and crossed her arms, walking back next to Ruby who happily grinned at her partner. It didn't seem to help their situation all that much.

"It's just an inverse grip, all longswords can do it." Jaune lifted his sheath, blade still bound within. "The handle is built to be incredibly sturdy in and of itself with the pommel and crossguards being exceptionally tough." Jaune gripped the sheath halfway down its length and held it like a mace once again. "Some Grimm are inordinately resistant to piercing and slashing attacks so..." He swung the makeshift weapon slowly and nodded to his fellow students.

"So you'd want a mace of some sort to shatter through." Surprisingly, it was Nora who answered, eagerly presenting her own Warhammer as well.

"Exactly." He nodded and returned his weapon to its rightful place. "The man who came up with it coined it mordhau, or murder-strike in common tongue." Jaune chose to ignore the slightly green look that came on Ren's face, who was probably busy imagining exactly why someone would mar a useful style with such a distasteful name.

"Hm..." Pyrrha frowned and took a look at her own weapons. "I should've thought about that when I designed Miló."

He leaned in patted her on the shoulder. "Maybe, but things like that only come in hindsight and there isn't much you can do now short of redesigning a weapon you've clearly mastered."

"I-I wouldn't say I'm a master just yet."

"Yes, because average fighters can smoothly transition between spears and swords mid-swing."

Her cheeks grew warm as blood rushed through them and she quickly changed the subject. "Oh, another thing! I've noticed you're a bit...static compared to the other students. Is there a reason for that?"

Jaune bit his lips and thought about the question for a moment. He could understand where the sentiment came from just from the short fights he had participated in thus far. While they all seemed keen on flashy contortions of their bodies and amazing acrobatic feats, Jaune himself preferred simpler and less demanding movements. "In Shiloh, Brothers In Arms are instructed to fight in formation to take down grimm easily. It fosters discipline and confidence amongst fighters which keeps fear at bay. Something I'm sure you can all agree is necessary when fighting Grimm." The nods he got said as much. "You'd probably see more similarity between yourselves and the Knights if I'm honest. They're a higher order than the Brothers and are taught to be more _dynamic_ in their movements like yourselves." Though, Jaune hadn't ever seen a Knight flip through the air five times like a dancer to get a strike in, but still, it was close enough.

"Wait wait wait!" Weiss crossed her arms. "So are you _not_ a hunter-in-training?"

Jaune grimaced as the horror of having to repeat himself once again reared its disgusting head. He sought a way out of the hole he had dug and started throwing out tired responses.

"It depends on what you mean. I'm here which technically means I most certainly _am_ a hunter-in-training as you so affectionately refer to it as." He ignored her icy glare. "But if you're asking if I have any plans of being a hunter, then no, I don't."

"Then why are you here?" It was Blake who spoke up with a distrusting look, watching him carefully now as he crafted another masterful answer.

"Hmmmmm." Jaune chose to just ignore her completely. He had no reason to answer those sorts of questions and truth be told, it would only lead to more problems than he cared to solve which is why he decided it would be best to leave it up in the air. Perhaps let them come to their own conclusions he thought. Sure, it could end terribly, but how badly could it end when any negative connotations could be waved away by simply directing them towards Ozpin, whom they seemed to trust quite implicitly. "I think it's time to sleep, we can discuss more tomorrow I'm sure." He yawned and opened the door to his team's dorm room, stepping inside and waving them goodbye.

He only got two waves back.

* * *

 **A/N: Oof! There we finally go! Then end of chapter four! Alrighty, so I'm starting to get a pretty good handle on how I want to set up this story I think. Though I'm getting worried that Jaune is WAY TOO ooc in this right now. I feel like I might have to scale him back a bit in the coming chapters which is...less than preferable haha! ,**

 **What do you guys think? Is Jaune way too OOC for your liking or do you feel like he fits in perfectly fine the way he is?**

 **Also, I think I might start a new story soon, I'll write up a small omake on the next chapter as a teaser for it and we can see how much you guys enjoy it! Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews last chapter! I really appreciated all of the feedback given to me! I guess a lot of people agree with me that Jaune will naturally be a bit more different from canon due to his upbringing but a lot of people want me to show off some of his more "Jaune-ish" qualities, which I hope to get to soon. This chapter though...**

 **Well I hope you guys don't think this one pushes the ooc too far!**

* * *

 **Beta:** dracohalo117

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

A man walked through a large worship hall alone, his footsteps echoing as he paced past the pews towards the large pulpit. He approached it steadily, watching the last strings of daylight just barely peek through the stained glass image of a massive bird and bathe the speaker's stand in a rainbow of light. He ran his callused fingers across the woodwork, tracing every curve and line that adorned it, intentionally placed or otherwise.

He enjoyed quiet times like this, when the rabble of the day was long behind him and all that remained was silent worship.

"Has there been word of how he's been?" A voice sounded behind him. It was quiet but deep, and it bounced off the walls of the Lord's Hall with ease.

He didn't turn around to answer, choosing instead, to watch the last dreg of light as it trailed down the massive, multicolored window.

"It's only been a couple of weeks, he'll need more time."

"More time for what?" Impatience filled the deep voice and some anger came along with it. Perhaps an accusatory tone somewhere in the cacophony of emotions but it was buried so deep he wasn't sure if he had even heard it in the first place. He rubbed a knuckle against the wood of the pulpit again, rhythmically testing the grain and texture. It was fine, perfectly smooth, and wonderfully made.

"I wouldn't know what he needs it for, I just know that he needs it."

"What if he's been hurt?"

Ah.

The worry filtered through far clearer now and he turned around to face-

"Knight Aaron, you raised Jaune well enough and know that he can take care of himself."

Knight Aaron Arc, father of Jaune Arc, stood before him now. He was dressed in his military garb still, probably having just ended his shift in the Third Quarter. Aaron wore the crest of his family name proudly on his breastplate, a simple outline of a rabbit made of inlaid gold, and had at his side, a longsword known to most as Crocea Mors. Sweat still lined his forehead and his fists were clenched into powerful balls of bone and muscle. Aaron breathed heavily as he stepped up and came closer.

"He's still young." Aaron scowled.

"He was trained by one of our best." He nodded to Aaron Arc as a sign of respect, truly he did, but Aaron didn't seem to care all that much for such pleasantries.

" _He's_ _young_. You should have sent someone with him." Aaron hissed but all that elicited was a nonchalant shrug.

"High Templar Romulus believed that he would be fine on his own."

"That's-That's..." Aaron looked conflicted, desperation filing his visage with those closed eyes and clenched teeth.

"Moreover, we can't afford to waste any more men on such a simple task." He explained with a tried voice. The boy's mother had raised the same...concerns earlier, though in a more provocative tone. "It's a first, for sure, to be contacting the Central Kingdoms, but the expected danger is minimal. We have another Black Night to prepare for, no men to waste when such danger lingers on our very plains."

"...He's my _only_ son." Aaron closed his eyes and heaved out a sigh as he spoke, shaking his head all the while.

"Aaron," he started with a sigh and walked up to his longtime friend, "though it will probably come to nothing, if it makes you feel any better, I'll _try_ to get in contact with Jaune, send him a raven or something similar."

"He wasn't given a communicator?" Aaron contended, but all he got was a shaking head.

"The communicators only have a range of a few miles." He took out his own, reaching beneath his robe and retrieving a small rectangular box with an antennae; a communicator. It was a simple device that allowed Brothers, Knights, and Bishops in the field to better share information in the field of battle. They had acquired the first communicator from a bandit vessel that hailed from Abydos.

Well, more specifically, they came off the dead bodies on the vessel, but semantics mattered little to them when it came to scum.

"How long would a raven take?"

"Not long, maybe just a few days. Perhaps a week or two if we're unlucky."

"A week or two..." Aaron sounded unconvinced and he crossed his arms, exhaling heavily.

"Well?" He hoped Aaron would accept the idea, not keen on finding out what the famed Knight would do if he found their attempts _inadequate_.

It took several grueling seconds to receive a response.

"Send it." His face was marred with disappointment and worry though. "Send it as soon as possible. Anne hasn't been able to sleep since Jaune left."

"Posthaste, Knight Aaron." He turned to leave but stopped when he felt Aaron's hand land on his shoulder and tighten like a snake.

"Promise me something though," his voice cut through like a knife as he enunciated each word with perfect clarity, "if my son is in any _real_ danger," Aaron's fingers felt like cold bars of steel as they started digging into his flesh, "promise me you'll send him help." He pulled _him_ closer roughly, clutching tighter still. "I can trust you to do at least that much, right, Bishop Hammond?"

"Of course, Knight Aaron."

Hammond licked his dry lips and the pit in his stomach grew large and dark like the stained glass window behind him.

* * *

Inside of team JNPR's room, four individuals got changed into their school uniforms, sliding into the clothes easily as they prepared for the day.

Ren looked out the window and saw the mountains far in the distance, gently eclipsing the sun which rose up behind them, sending beams of sunlight through the clear panes.

Jaune had woken up first out of all of them, not too surprising, and then Pyrrha next, followed by himself, then finally Nora.

Or, more accurately, Jaune made Ren wake up Nora via tossing him on top of her. This was after she sleep-punched Jaune in the face after he shook her shoulder to rouse her from slumber.

With all of them finally up and awake, they prepared for another day at Beacon Academy.

To Ren's left, Jaune pulled off his shirt and grabbed the uniform Glynda had supplied him with earlier; it was a simple suit that Jaune grimaced at as he gently gripped the fabrics, apparently not appreciative of the free clothes.

"Something wrong with the uniforms?" Ren asked.

"Huh?" Jaune looked up and took a second to register his question, mind still a bit befuddled by the morning haze. "Oh no, I'm just not used to wearing such...restrictive clothing. Seems a tad strange for a school teaching teens how to fight to have such non-practical choices in uniform."

Ren couldn't help but agree with that as he pulled on his own suit. Now, he would have asked the girls how they felt about their outfits but looking at Pyrrha, whose cheeks had slight red coloring as she took a sneak peek at Jaune as he continued inspecting his uniform whilst shirtless, and Nora, who was still trying to figure out whether or not she liked plaid and if it was an _awesome_ style, they either wholeheartedly approved or didn't care much at all.

Ren just resigned himself to four years of cumbersome fabrics.

When they finally put on their final touches to their looks for the day, apparently even the great Pyrrha Nikos put on makeup which came as a surprise to him, they sat on their beds, watching the clock tick by as they waited for classes to start.

Jaune yawned and Ren decided to take the time to get to know his partner a bit more.

"So," Ren very uncharacteristically broke the silence and did his best to ignore Nora's proud look, "what's your family like Jaune?"

"Hm? My family?" Jaune stumbled at the request, seemingly not having expected such a question to arise during their morning routine –though two days doth not a routine make Ren supposed. "Well, the structure is pretty standard I suppose; one father, one mother-"

Nothing out of the ordinary there.

"Grandparents are dead now-"

Sad, but it didn't seem like it bothered Jaune all that much so Ren followed suit.

"No aunts or uncles."

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha as well apparently, could all relate.

"No cousins, obviously."

 _Obviously._ Ren thought.

"Seven sisters, three ol-"

"Wait, what!?"

"How many?"

"Seven!?"

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha all took turns staring wide eyed at the now sheepish student who nervously held his hands up as he edged up his bed.

"Yes, seven sisters. Is-Is that a lot?" The way his cheeks started burning red as he said it let Ren know that this was a legitimately a normal thing for him. Amazing.

"It's um...It's certainly more than the average amount." Ren coughed. He wasn't a betting man, but he was felt safe guessing that one of Jaune's parents was a bunny Faunus. Either that or they were extremely _active_ to say the least. "So are you the youngest or..."

"No, three of them are older and four of them are younger."

"Wow, you're like the _ultimate_ middle child then!" Nora piped up with a gaping mouth of surprise and Ren couldn't help but agree in some regards. He didn't personally know what it was like being the middle child but stereotypes existed for a reason and with seven siblings...

He couldn't imagine how they kept up with all of them.

"What are they like?" Pyrrha's face was a unique blend of curiosity and muted horror.

"Well, they're like regular siblings I suppose. Sometimes annoying, sometimes adorable, and always in your face about something or the other."

Ren glanced at Nora for the briefest of moments before turning back to Jaune for another statement.

"Seven though..." Pyrrha quietly whispered to the bed sheets.

"Your parents must be quite um...active." Ren avoided any risqué words but still got the point across easily it seemed. Jaune coughed to the side and hid his tomato colored face as he replied.

"Active is one way of putting it I suppose."

"They're like rabbits!"

"Nora!" Ren hushed the girl as she pantomimed some pelvic thrusts with...vigor.

"You know, Nora's not all that wrong." Jaune conceded with a heavy voice. "I remember when I was younger, I once ran into my parent's bedroom thinking someone was attacking my mother." Jaune closed his eyes and his cheeks warmed up as a particularly scarring memory came to mind. "Now I know my mother's a screamer...So is my father..."

Normally, Ren couldn't read thoughts, but when they were written all over one's face...

"I mean-I mean–you can't hold me back Ren!" Nora triumphantly exclaimed while prying his fingers away. "Imeantechnicallysomeone _was_ attackingher!" Nora's satisfied voice managed to rush out before Ren was able to stop her. "With a penis!" A quick addendum she gleefully added.

"Crude...but true." A look of disgust passed through Jaune's face and Ren planted his palm directly to his face, covering his disappointed eyes.

He peered through the cracks of his fingers and saw Pyrrha trying her best to mold into the sheets beneath her, face generating enough heat to power Beacon.

They all probably looked like that right now though –apart from Nora, who just kept cackling- but that was fine in and of itself. He had been worried when he had first met Jaune, that it would be a bit more...difficult to get along with the foreign warrior, differing cultures and all. But it seemed, for the moment at least, that those fears were just reactionary and had no basis in reality, overtaken by friendly laughs and smiling faces.

He had been worried the moment he and Nora had left their tiny little village to head to Beacon. Two young teens who still had so much to learn about the world and were fully on their own? It was a recipe for disaster and Ren knew how Nora could be...grating on people from time to time, which only exacerbated the problem. His heart had sunk like a rock when he had been paired up with Jaune, falling into his stomach as he realized that he'd be on his own without his best friend.

He squeezed Nora just a bit tighter with his arm.

To many people –those looking from the outside in that was- it seemed like Ren merely _tolerated_ Nora's presence. As though her impressive _assets_ and status as childhood friend were what protected her from his chagrin.

They couldn't be more wrong though.

Ren still remembered all the days he had spent alone; a small boy trying his best to carve out a place in the world for himself using nothing but his dirt crusted fingers. It had been a difficult childhood and one that he took great pleasure in tossing away, letting it get washed under the great wave that had been Nora's first appearance in his life. All the bitterness and struggle pushed back by the cheery exterior of a girl who chose to shove some optimism into the face of someone who knew nothing but pessimism.

He hid everything so well underneath his cool exterior; all the worry and doubt, but it seemed he could ease those away now.

Jaune and Pyrrha weren't perfect –nobody could ever be perfect- but they were the next best things; they were understanding.

"Ren!" He was shaken out of his thoughts and found himself face to face with the worried face of Jaune Arc. "Class is starting soon, we don't want to have to rush. C'mon!"

"Yeah," He got up and let go of Nora, who bounced out the door, trailing Pyrrha. "Let's go."

* * *

Click.

Scritch scratch.

"However just three months after the initial assault, General Moor succumbed to a fatal assassination launched by the Black Ops branch of the Unified Faunus Front only known at the time as _The Talons_ -"

Scritch scratch.

"-while devastating in its own right to the Greater Coalition of Human States, was nothing compared to the aftermath-"

Scritch scratch.

"-deliberation, the Grand Council decided to elect Adam Lagune as General to the Mistral Theater. Which, as many of you should know, ended in-"

Scritch scratch.

Jaune took laborious notes as he strained his ears to keep up with the rapid fire flow of information that burst out of the professor's lips. In the span of a mere thirty minutes, Oobleck had somehow blasted his way through nearly _two years_ **'** worth of history, in full detail no less. So far, his topic for the day had been the war known commonly as the Faunus Rights Revolution.

Jaune wasn't common apparently since he had never even heard of such a thing.

When Oobleck paused in his incredible retelling of the entire war to take a sip of his coffee and allow some of the students to massage their sore wrists, Jaune turned to Ren and whispered to his teammate.

"Ren," He nudged his teammate with his elbow when he didn't reply. Ren was still scrawling line after line in his notebook looking to finally catch up to the paused professor. Only the slightest turning of his head let Jaune know he was listening. "What's a faunus?"

"What?" Ren's pencil slipped from his grip and rolled across the table, bouncing along till Pyrrha quickly snatched it up, saving it from a harsh fall to the floor. He slowly turned to Jaune and ignored his red haired teammate for the moment, not even bothering to retake his pencil.

"What's a faunus?" Jaune reiterated slowly, nodding along with each syllable that left his mouth. Pyrrha and Nora appeared beside Ren as well, and when they caught wind of his question, they were left slack jawed in surprise. Jaune himself cringed at the looks and sheepishly drew backwards into his seat, embarrassed to once again be caught lacking a crucial deal of information. He opened his mouth to lock the question away, ready to throw it to the back of his mind to ask Ozpin later, but Ren stopped him before he could do so.

"It's okay, maybe Shiloh just has another word for this like they did with aura." He quickly assured Jaune and the rest of the team, nodding confidently at them and waiting for them to nod back. They were a bit more hesitant though. Jaune watched him pass quick glances to his teammates then past Jaune's own shoulder where his face paled a slight bit. "Look Jaune, we can probably discuss it-"

"Shiloh doesn't have _any_ faunus?" Blake hissed out from behind Jaune, prompting him to twist around in his seat to face the girl and her team, all of whom were seated to his right, though it seemed that the sisters were busy sleeping. She narrowed her eyes at him and threw his a cautious look, not just listening apparently, but also _watching_ how he answered her accusation.

"..." Jaune opened his mouth but waited on the words. He didn't want to anger the girl, especially during class of all things, so he chose his words as delicately as he could. Taking a glance to the front and he caught a glimpse of Oobleck clearing his throat, preparing for one last rapid fire shot of history before the class ended. He would need to hurry this. "Like Ren said, the place I come from may just use a different word for whatever faunus means, we'll discuss it later I'm sure."

"How can you not know what a faunus is?" It was Weiss who sided up next Blake, surprisingly since Ruby had told him in passing that they didn't seem to get along all that well. Though in his defense, she didn't seem to get along anyone.

"Like I said, I might know. Just give us some time to-"

"Have you never _seen_ one? They aren't exactly subtle you know." She raised an incredulous eyebrow and sighed in an exasperated manner.

"Oh, you would know?" Blake shot at her teammate suddenly, hackles now raised for some reason.

 _Ah...So there's that team dynamic Ruby told me about..._ Jaune grimaced as the two teen girls snarled at each other. Apparently whatever these "faunus" were, the whole situation surrounding them was a sensitive topic between the two.

It would best if he could just stay out of it.

"Ahem, as I was saying." Oobleck stopped any conflict between the two and adjusted his glasses in a...strict manner? "The advent of General Legune, for many historians, marked the beginning of the changing tides. Can anyone hazard a guess as to why?"

That was certainly a change, Oobleck asking if the students had any input for the discussion, Jaune thought to himself. So far it had been Oobleck just spouting off a geyser of information that he expected the students to follow and record. He looked around the room to see students in varying states of ocular avoidance, several just craning their necks to the ceiling as they avoided the professor's eyes.

Seconds of silence passed.

"No one here can tell me why the election of Adam Legune to the rank of General was a bad idea?"

Jaune watched Blake's fingers twitch as her hand rose off the table ever so slightly, though it was brought back down immediately before it could even get up a couple of inches.

"Anyone?" Oobleck paced...Jaune almost didn't want to use that word to describe his movement because it was so fast, but it was certainly...consistent, so it fit the scene quite well. "No one here has an answ-"

"Adam Legune had only ever held the rank of Colonel before his promotion." Weiss nodded curtly with her hand raised high into the air. "It's still widely believed that Legune only ever received his dubious promotion due to his relations and affiliations in the Grand Council at the time. More specifically, his brother was on the Council at the time."

"Exactly Miss Schnee, Legune was young and inexperienced, not yet ready to take over such a massive role." Oobleck praised the girl and she seemed to preen under it like a peacock. "Which brings us to the turning point of the war, where history was finally made."

Funny statement, Jaune guessed that meant every other damn detail he had written down hadn't counted as history. He stared rebelliously down at his long, scribbled notes. Trying his best to glare away the strain in his wrist.

"The battle of Fort Castle." Oobleck sipped on his coffee and zipped over to one end of the classroom. "The actual turning point of the Faunus Rights Revolution, where General Legune made his fatal –quite literally mind you- mistake." He zipped over and stood right in front of Jaune, staring at him and the students seated around him. "Who here can tell us what mistake he made?"

He seemed to watch every student at the same time somehow and still pay special attention to Jaune, eyes darting to him an unusual number of times. Jaune, unlike many students, chose not to avert his own gaze, comfortable to admit his lack of knowledge.

Apparently he would be given that chance when Oobleck gave him a pointed look.

"Perhaps you can hazard a guess, Mister Arc?"

Just a guess, Oobleck knew he wouldn't have an answer and was giving him an out if he required it, a nice gesture, though Jaune didn't really need it.

"If he was inexperienced, then I assume his _mistake-_ " Jaune shrugged, "was that he tried to use a tactic that was already known to fail."

"Precisely Mister Arc, precisely." He seemed overtly pleased at his answer before speeding off once again. The stares he got from his team at the exchange were unreadable so he had to shrug them off, not sure on how to reply.

"The faunus have a distinct advantage from us humans, can anyone tell me what that is?"

The way Oobleck talked about the faunus, Jaune could assume that they were some other sentient race from humans, one that Shiloh was apparently completely oblivious to. This was worrying in and of itself; the idea that there was an entire species out there that Shiloh had no knowledge of.

Jaune decided then and there to make this a top priority and see to it that he bundled all of this Central Kingdom knowledge together for the High Templar to review with the Lord's Council.

"Animals are easier to train than humans!" Cardin's unpleasant voice sounded from across the room, his form haughty and arrogant as he leaned back in his seat. Apparently the loss Jaune had given him hadn't dented his ego at all.

"Crass Mister Winchester, and wrong as well." Oobleck frowned deeply as he berated the teen lightly.

Jaune snorted at Cardin's insubordination; rolling his eyes and huffing like a child. Back in Shiloh he would have been beaten for bringing such disgrace to the name of the holy warriors of the church. The Templar took obedience to an...extreme at times and such arrogance and hubris was looked down upon.

Usually.

Sometimes though, once in a blue moon, there came men and women with enough repute and skill to back up their garrulousness. Rare as it may be, of course.

He saw a hand flash into the air to his right and turned towards it. Blake Belladonna held her hand firmly in the air as she stared Cardin down with a fiery visage plastered on her face.

"Miss Belladonna, an answer?"

"It's night vision." She answered swiftly, locking eyes with Cardin and refusing to back down as she barked out her answer. "Faunus have perfect night vision which allowed them to turn the ambush back on General Legune's head, which they subsequently removed after the battle." She bit like venom and even Cardin flinched ever so slightly as the girl hissed her words. Oobleck shot her a strong look as well, quelling her as he continued with his lecture.

"Yes, General Legune didn't have the experience that so many others had throughout the war; that is night battles." Oobleck barreled on. "It was certainly common knowledge at that point but General Legune, much like some people in this class," when Oobleck shot across the room to get a better vantage to stare Cardin down, Jaune rolled his eyes. Cardin had nearly fallen out of his chair at the sudden attention, "General Legune refused to learn from history, and as the saying goes;" he sipped his mug and trailed his eyes away from Cardin and back to Jaune, "those who refuse to learn history, are doomed to repeat it."

Oobleck nodded to him and Jaune sighed, nodding back if only slightly.

"I expect a two page report on the battle of Fort Castle by next week; outlining the strategies used by both sides along with their respective pros and cons." Oobleck sped back to his desk and dismissed the class, leaving swifter than any of the students, though he made sure to stop by Jaune on his passing, leaving him with a final command. "I'd like to speak to you in private this weekend Jaune, make sure you're free."

He nodded ever so imperceptibly.

* * *

"This is impressive stuff." Jaune said while chewing slowly on the delicious meal. The succulent beef and the fresh vegetables went perfectly with the toasted bread buns and variety of sauces. He had never had a burger before, but he knew this would _have_ to be one of the things he sent back to Shiloh. Spending years as a soldier for the church meant eating only the most...practical foods that could be supplied. Things such as but not limited to; overcooked chicken, hard tack, and soup. When Jaune had asked exactly what kind of soup, the Bishop merely laughed at him and told him that it was _soup_ -soup.

Jaune swore that it had _twitched_ when he poked it with a spoon.

"So..." Yang spoke through bites of her own tasty meal and patently ignored Weiss' disappointed looks. "What were you guys talking about during class? Me and Rubes couldn't hear since we were so...um... _riveted_ by professor Oobleck's lesson." She swallowed a mouthful of succulence and cheekily grinned.

"The two of you were sleeping." Weiss scoffed.

"Tactically resting." Yang retorted, turning her nose up at the affluent heiress.

"You would have snored had Blake not stopped you."

"Helps scare off weaker predators."

"Ugh!" Weiss threw her hands up and gave up on the hopeless task.

"Actually Jaune," said blond turned to a fidgeting Pyrrha, "I was hoping we could clarify that conversation from earlier..." She bit her lip and tried to smile as best she could.

He swallowed and cleaned his lips with a napkin before speaking.

"Look," He waved his hands nonchalantly, trying to simmer down the issue before it even got heated, "I've just never heard the term faunus before. That's all it was." Blake didn't seem all that convinced and neither did the rest of them, though to lesser degrees. The only one who didn't seem too bothered at all was Ren, who patiently waited for a better explanation. Jaune appreciated that sort of faith in a new found friend. "Look, if you just explain what a faunus is, I'm sure we can get past-"

He was interrupted by a particularly loud squeal.

"Ah!"

"So these real or you just glue 'em on?"

He, and the rest of team JNPR and RWBY, turned to see, just a few tables away, Cardin Winchester once again bothering another student; this time roughly gripping a girl's rabbit ear in his closed fist. He tugged on it once and the girl squealed, hands coming up and pulling on his fingers to get him to release.

Jaune bent his head a bit low to get a better look at the girl's face.

It was marred with discomfort and embarrassment.

He grimaced and resisted the urge to get up and help the poor girl.

"That's awful..." Ruby whispered in anger, the disapproval evident on her face as she scowled at the scene. He could see her tensing up and twisting in her chair, all her innocent indignation and youthful kindness telling her to go do _something_ about the injustice she was just viewing. Jaune put his hand up to stop her for the moment.

"Wait, I think-"

"Jerks like that..." Yang grimaced and nodded in affirmation to her sister. She pat the younger girl on the shoulder, signaling her to stay seated while she herself stood up. The blonde fisticuffs fighter cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders as a show of intent and action. Jaune felt some panic creep up as he gestured for her to sit back down as well now.

"Yang, sit down, just-"

"Break his legs!" Nora cheerfully exclaimed beside him.

Yang nodded and started confidently strolling over to the burly bully with her fists held tightly to her sides, each one ready to lash out in righteous fury.

She stopped when Jaune's fingers lashed out like ropes to hold her by the wrist.

"Sit down." He struggled out while ushering the girl to retake her seat. He flinched at Yang's look of disbelief, as though he had just slapped her in the face. He released her gently and gestured back to her open seat, pleading softly. "Please Yang, just sit down."

"Look Jaune, I don't know how it works in Shiloh, but here in Vale, we don't let jerks get away with stuff like that!"

"I get that, but please just sit down for now and _think_ about this first."

"You aren't even our team leader, so what makes you think you can order _me_ around!?" She hissed out vehemently and Jaune recoiled at the venom in her words, it seemed like he had hit on some sort of sensitive topic now. It would be best he tread this road carefully now so he didn't lose the few allies he had made so far.

"I'm not ordering, I'm just pleading with you to hear me out before you make a rash decision."

Rash decision seemed like the key phrase since Yang bit her lip and, with much internal struggle it seemed, sat back down next to her sister. Once seated fully, she crossed her arms across her chest and huffed at him, refusing to meet his eyes with her own.

"So _why_ are you stopping Yang?" Blake asked with narrowed eyes and a deep frown.

"I-I just want you to think. I mean, why are all of you here again?" Jaune asked, though he threw a quick glance over his shoulder and saw Cardin still pestering the girl, though it seemed he was slowly getting bored of his twisted game now. He turned back around and was met with a series of grim expressions. "If I remember correctly, you're all here to become huntsman or huntresses, right?"

He got a series of nods, all of them mired with an unhappy expression of some kind. Between Ruby's hurting and sad pout and Blake's snarling visage, he realized that this could be a make-it or break-it type of situation he found himself in.

"Exactly and huntresses help people in need." Ruby pleaded with wide eyes that trailed back to the poor lonely girl. She seemed so eager to reach out to her now and Jaune nearly caved in and let her, but he held fast and took a deep breath.

"From what I've learned, huntsman and huntresses are supposed to protect people from threats they can't protect themselves from, namely the Grimm." Ozpin had said as much from the first night he met him and it seemed so far he was truthful judging by their nods.

"That's why we need to help her!" Ruby exclaimed, her small hands coming onto the table now. "She needs someone to-"

"To save her?" Jaune finished, closing his eyes and waving her to sit back down. "You want to save her, Ruby?" He asked with a sigh.

"Ye-Yes?" Ruby stammered out with some confusion. Her tiny lips twisted as the words she spoke just didn't seem to match up perfectly with what she wanted to convey. "I mean, I want to-to help and do _something_ about that kind of stuff. I don't think she-I mean I don't think I...um..." She quietly petered off, looking down at her plate.

"If you're all here to learn how to be huntresses," he ignored Ren for the moment, nodding distinctly at the boy and separating him for the moment, "and huntresses save people, right?" He waited for them to nod, particularly Ruby, Yang, and Blake. They seemed to be the most reluctant to follow his logic. "To why do you think that girl is here Ruby? Blake?" He directed the question over to the brunette then, who stared him back down with cold amber eyes.

"That doesn't mean she doesn't deserve help." Blake bit out at him, letting some of the poison come through and bite him.

"I never said that Blake." He held his hands up in defense. "I'm just saying that saving her from these issues won't help her in the long run."

It was surprisingly Yang, who seemed to understand him first when she sighed in acceptance and nodded.

"I-I kind of get that." She grimaced at Ruby's and Blake's incredulous looks. "Guys, if she wants to save people, she also needs to know how to save herself. That's what you're saying, right Jaune?" She reached out for his affirmation, which he gave quite easily.

"Exactly, think for a moment if she ended up in a situation where she had to protect other people." Jaune brought up into memory his own experiences. "Imagine her comrades, weak and dying, having to rely on her to get them through." Such a bleak night, one he remembered easily still. "She'll be there, terrified and unable to help them, cowering away in the darkness." He felt his stomach drop and closed his eyes, faces flashing into his memory. "He'll watch them get devoured and torn apart, so worthless. So pathetic..." He softly said, twisting his fingers on his lap as the memory trickled out from the deepest parts of his mind. "They'll cry out to him, begging him to do something, but he won't. You know why Ruby?" He looked up at her with an open mouth, lips parting just the slightest as he whispered. "Because he was nothing but a coward and when you're fighting for people's lives, cowards get those people killed."

She sat there, silent now, watching his forlorn expression with one of her own as she put the dots together. Blake was quiet as well, though still a bit defiant.

"O-Oh." Ruby quietly replied, no other words leaving her lips.

"If you want to help her Ruby, don't fight her fights for her." Jaune glanced back and saw Cardin walking away from the girl, leaving her to her own devices as she sat there, numbly poking at the remained of her lunch. She had a sour expression on her face. "Help her find the confidence to fight those battles herself." He shrugged at her and gestured with a nod to the lonely student.

Ruby got up slowly, awkwardly at first, till she found some confidence from her sister who pushed her along with an elbow and a small grin.

"Bring her over Rubes, she can use some people to eat with."

"Ye-Yeah..." She strolled over and Jaune waited patiently for her return.

He found himself having a stare down with Blake again, who cautiously observed him.

"Is there something more you'd like to say Blake?" He asked carefully.

"...No." She finally sighed and went back to her own devices, poking at her own plate which held an assortment of exotic fish. Exotic in his opinion he supposed since all they had in Shiloh was tuna and salmon. He had gotten tired of both quite quickly.

"Hey guys!" Ruby's voice suddenly sounded from behind him, prompting him to turn around. He smiled at the girl who shyly hid behind Ruby, though it was a poor attempt. Those ears added nearly a full head and a half of height to the girl, bringing her up to quite the artificial enormity compared to tiny, little Ruby Rose. "This is Velvet! Velvet, this is my team over on that side," she pointed far over Jaune's head, standing on her tip toes to get the right angling as she pointed to the girls seated in front of him. "And this is Jaune and his team!"

They all waved and greeted her in their own manner and Jaune prompted her to take a seat with them, scooting over to make room.

"Hello." Her voice was demure and quiet, Jaune had to lean in a bit deep to grasp her words fully.

"You alright?" Yang was the first to ask, eyes flashing angrily to Cardin who sat several tables away.

"Yeah," Velvet answered through clenched teeth, wincing as she spoke, "Cardin's just another jerk, I've met plenty of guy's like that." She gently rubbed one of her ears, slowly rubbing the bothered flesh.

Jaune grimaced at her answer.

"Met plenty of guy's like that?" He said with some incredulity. "You're saying this is a common occurrence?"

"Faunus rights may be equal by the letter of the law, but the spirit isn't always followed." Velvet answered quietly, sighing to herself in resignation.

"It shouldn't be like that though and it's not okay." Blake spat. "Faunus _still_ face discrimination across Remnant except-"

"Wait," Jaune stopped them immediately with a rapid wave. "So _you're_ a _faunus_?" He asked in surprise, eyebrows raising while his mouth was left wide open.

"Wa-What!?" Blake suddenly shouted, reaching up and rubbing her head in surprise. Her face turned a deadly shade of pale –Jaune didn't even realize she could get any paler but she managed it quite fine.

"I meant her." He gestured to Velvet.

"Ye-Yes?" Velvet stuttered out her reply, a bit unnerved by the sudden attention.

"I though faunus were a different species or something?" Jaune directed to Blake who gave him a perturbed look.

"They...They are?"

"Huh...Isn't that interesting." Jaune murmured as he took another bite of his sandwich and chewed down on it. He looked up to see Blake with a peculiar expression planted on her face, nose scrunched up with her lips thinned out.

"What does-" She paused in the middle of the question and after a pause to think about something, she continued, "What does that mean?" She asked, cocking her head to the side, some color returning to her face. Color was a bit too strong of a word actually, it was still paler than any skin color he had ever seen in Shiloh.

"We uh," Jaune swallowed, " _Faunus_ aren't considered a different species in Shiloh." In his opinion, it'd be ridiculous to do such a thing in the first place. Though they could also have differences in the meaning of the word _species_ in and of itself. "We just consider them humans with some extra appendages." He leaned back in his seat and stretched. "Though we still have a specific word for them, it's pronounced; _Natus_. It means mixed in common tongue"

"Wait wait wait!" Blake rushed out, stopping and pulling him back before he left the topic fully behind. "What do you mean you-you just...Faunus are just considered _humans_ in your home city!?" She seemed utterly confused by his words so Jaune slowly nodded, trying his best to clarify himself.

"Yes, it's not that strange, is it?" He took another bite out of his burger quite casually, chewing and swallowing for some seconds, taking the time to think. It was just common sense in his point of view, like eating food. After all, survival came first which meant you had to put aside minor differences if they brought forth great gains. He peered at Blake with his blue orbs. "From our point of view, they're just humans who have been gifted with extra abilities that allow them to surpass regular human limits." He gestured over to Velvet, or more specifically her ears. "Velvet hear is a Rabbit Natu-er Faunus, meaning unlike us, she can pick up on Grimm coming from several kilometers away, tracking them with her incredible hearing across enormous distances." Shiloh had at least four rabbit-category Natus in each of the Quarter Towers, constantly rotating in and out as they listened carefully for the movements of any Grimm in the area. They were deemed the as one of the most important aspects of each tower, guarded and defended constantly so they could do their jobs properly. Shiloh would have fallen long ago if it hadn't been for the early detection that the Natus provided.

Said girl blushed at the praise and murmured quietly.

"I'm not that good..."

"Bishop Adler would have quite the experience for you if you lived in Shiloh." Jaune snorted, remembering how often he would see the Nauts training day and night, getting to know their own unique qualities better and better so they would be ready when the time came. From what he heard, Bishop Adler once took a small contingent of nothing but Natus out deep into the forest and had them describe through nothing but smell and sound, every single Grimm that came their way. "Unlike normal people, Faunus, being unique, undergo specialized training to fully master their extra traits and use them to their fullest effect. It's how they contribute to the survival of Shiloh." Jaune explained it the same way Bishop Hammond had explained it to him when he had met his first Natus; another young boy like himself who resembled a wolf. Great sense of smell, that one had.

"They aren't given a choice like everyone else?" Blake said grimly.

"No! They are." Jaune winced, hurrying out his response to keep the girl from getting riled again. "They're pressured more than usual however to join the Templar Order, but they aren't forced," he shook his head, "no one can be forced." Forced conscriptions could be dangerous, those who didn't want to fight almost _never_ put in the same degree of sacrifice and work that volunteers did. It was a dangerous game to play, not having an assured number of fighters each year but so far, Shiloh had never failed to deliver; the people's desire to keep the city safe so great that it was.

"I-I see..." Blake lowered her eyes to the table. "So faunus-I mean Natus, aren't...They're just-just normal then, to you?" She asked.

"For the most part." He confirmed with a nod, then looked to Velvet and saw her downcast eyes, staring solemnly at the table as well. He cleared his throat and poked the girl in her side to capture her attention. Speaking with the same sage advice he got from Bishop Hammond, he disseminated some advice. "If the traits bother you so much that you think they affect your ability to function as a huntress, why not just get them removed?"

Apparently that was the _wrong_ thing to say as it immediately caused a commotion.

"What!?"

"Jaune, that's just-how!?"

He leaned back with wide eyes and waited for the calm to come back so he could explain himself.

"You-You're telling her to just _cut_ her ears and tail off?" Blake hacked out through several coughs.

"No!" He waved his hands to dissuade her as much as he could, trying his best to get her on the same page as himself. "I mean, yes I guess, but it's not what you think it is." Definitely the wrong language to use as Blake's glare came back full force to him, the temperature turning down several notches as a stormy look passed over her. "Look, all I'm saying is, if those traits are making it difficult to do her job, perhaps those traits just don't match the job and she should rectify that."

"What do you mean by _they don't match her_?" She words cut like a knife as she spat them at him.

"Okay, it's like if you had horns-" Jaune started but immediately winced. He tried his best to lean further back from the girl's wrath but she closed the distance across the table by standing up and bending over to grab his collar.

"Oh!?" She hissed at him while shaking roughly. "And what makes horns so bad now too!?"

"You- You can't really head-butt a Grimm to death." He put his hands up to defend his face when she pulled him in closer, bringing them dangerously close.

"So what!?" She looked utterly scandalized and jabbed her finger into Jaune's chest. "How does that matter!?"

"Well-"

"Why should they have to conform themselves to what humans think is suitable?"

"I'm not say-"

"So they have to either exist in your narrow scope or it's considered _wrong_?"

"I think it's because while they can't head-butt a Grimm to death, they can certainly gore a person pretty easily." Ren interjected, pushing the girl away from him and giving her a glare of his own. Jaune breathed a sigh of relief as they were separated.

"Thank you Ren."

The normally quiet teen just nodded while keeping his pink eyes firmly on the seething girl.

Jaune took some deep breaths before addressing Blake again.

"He's right for the most part, civilian faunus, get their most dangerous traits removed almost entirely, so claws, horns, and fangs generally."

"Why? You think faunus are more dangerous than regular people?" She accused through clenched teeth.

"No-" Jaune immediately shook his head to dissuade her but Ren stepped in with some choice words of his own.

"Shiloh kills _anyone_ who might be a threat to the internal stability of the city." That statement certainly caught her attention. She whipped her head to him and it stuck there as he continued speaking. "It's not about being a faunus, it's about their precarious state of being."

Blake was left open mouthed as she heard his words, shock evident on her face and everyone else's.

"Wh-What!?" She asked, horror bubbling up from her throat and out her lips in a mangled word.

"Shiloh gets attacked by Grimm all the time according to Jaune. Attacked every. Single. Day." Ren elaborated, though he quickly glanced at Jaune and paused, seeking his permission to divulge more. Jaune hesitated with a bit lip for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. Eventually he conceded and nodded to Ren to continue, letting him continue on. "Internal strife could be the end of their entire civilization. Years of history and work just wiped away in an instant due to just one person's mistake."

"That's..." Pyrrha's voice was sad and she looked at Jaune with...different eyes. Not nearly as bright as before and dulled by sheer shock. "I don't know what to make of that..."

"I doubt many of us could." Ren despondently said. "Blake, I don't think Jaune hates faunus like you might think he does. He's just not used to the liberties that peace affords us."

"And what makes you think I'm use to peace either?" She shot back in a low voice.

"Then you'd understand that Jaune's culture can't afford to make mistakes like letting people have inbuilt weapons."

"Blake," Jaune got her attention back and spoke to her firmly. "I'm not saying that it's bad to have these traits." He gestured to Velvet and gave her a smile. Her face was still marred with muted horror though so he guessed it hadn't really helped much. "In fact, we consider them given to us by God, much like the rest of our bodies." He reasoned. "I assure you Blake, in Shiloh, the body is considered the cathedral for the soul, we don't make such...drastic changes without proper forethought." He hoped he could get it across, his point that was. Coming from such a foreign background made it hard to connect the dots for everyone; they didn't have the kind of knowledge of experience that he did. They didn't have the teachings he had learned as a child. It was all so foreign to them, just like their words were to him.

"Then...what kinds of traits are usually removed?" She sought clarification, which was good, but her tone was still very much laced with acidity that burned him.

"It depends, not every faunus gets their claws or horns removed, but if you're asking for the general rule of thumb..." Jaune chewed his lower lip as he thought on the question. "Civilians lose their claws, horns, and occasionally their tails if it's...the dangerous sort..." His lips twisted in displeasure at Blake's scandalized expression. "Members of the Brothers in Arms or the Knights Templar lose their claws, horns, and tails." He could see the anger still brimming behind Blake's amber orbs. Though he couldn't really blame her for that. "Members of the Chaplain Order keep the claws, horns, and tails though." Chaplains also had a tendency to be the strictest out of any group, also the scariest in Jaune's opinion. Chaplain Aurum in particular if memory served him right. "Blake, I want you to understand, these traits aren't bad per say." He nodded to her but was met with a stone face. He sighed. "It's just that sometimes, the traits you have don't always match the role you want to fulfill. It's not shameful to admit that where I'm from."

"So then you just remove features that you believe don't match someone's role in life?"

"No Blake," He said with his lips thinning out. "No one has a set role in life. God gave us freedom of choice for a reason and sometimes the path you choose for yourself doesn't perfectly line up with the natural talents you were born with."

"But wait," the girl started again, grasping desperately at the straws, "you said that Velvet should just get her ears removed, I thought most soldiers kept their hearing!" Her voice was laced with more accusation as she pointed a finger at him,

"I said if the traits impede her progress as a huntress that much she should get them removed." He answered slowly with measured temperance, outlining each word with a nod. "I don't know what being a huntress entails other than saving people so if something keeps you from doing that then shouldn't you seek to remedy it immediately?"

Blake seemed to deflate at, sinking into her chair, though still shooting him dirty looks. The effect was marred with how sad she appeared.

"There's always a reason, isn't there..." Her voice barely left her lips, quiet and aimed towards the floor, head sinking low as she placed her face firmly into the crook of her arm. Her muffled voice sounded out, but just barely. "I just wish that-that they could just _be_ , without having to go through these crazy hoops." When Blake looked up, her eyes were brimming with tears and a cold smile cut across her face.

"We'd all want that Blake, but things just aren't that way." Jaune tried to say it in a warm voice, he reached over and gripped her hands in his own, much like his father did whenever he shook with fear or anger. It was calming. "At least not yet they aren't."

"Hah," She released a pitiful laugh and extricated her hands from his. "I guess even in a completely different society, I still wouldn't be-" She stopped talking then, eyes widening as she slapped her palm across her lips.

Yang's eyes were wide with recognition as she stared at her partner with renewed eyes. She reached out to touch the other girl's shoulder.

"Blake..." She started but never got to finish.

Blake shot out of her seat and ran.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright so that ends the actual chapter, which I hope you enjoyed! What's up next is just a quick little teaser at a new fic I've been tossing around in my head. Tell me what you guys think in a review or a pm!**

* * *

 **Teaser: Enduring**

"Ah!"

A pair of blue eyes shot open as a figure rocketed to an upright sitting position while a hoarse scream tore out of his throat. A blonde haired teen heaved out several heavy breaths as he clutched his head, running his fingers around the area of it, testing every inch of its surface. He looked for dings and dents, injuries that weren't there.

At least not anymore.

He patted himself down, twisting around in a panic as he scoured himself with his eyes, running them across his form as though it were foreign to him.

In a way, it was.

"Oh god. Oh god oh god!" He fervently spoke as he forced himself up with his hands. "Ah!" His shaky legs failed him though and he went toppling back into the hard ground, filling his mouth with dirt and some other strange tasting liquid. It tasted like copp- "OH GOD!" He slammed his hands into the floor and screeched, pushing himself up and whipping his head back and forth, looking for any sign of danger. Anything to substantiate the sheer terror that was flowing through his pounding heart right now. The only other eyes he saw came from the frightened eyes of the homeless who stared back at him while desperately retreating to their corners. The boy felt something wet and cold hit his hand. Then the back of his head. Then his leg.

It was raining.

"Oh no...Please no..." He sobbed aloud, clutching himself as tight as he could. His whole body was shaking terribly and he knew he needed to get home immediately. Slowly he forced himself to stand, trying his best to ignore the phantom pains that sprang through from his limbs and up his spine. He nearly fell over again when he reached his apex, but he held, just barely though.

He looked at his hands then, no longer clean but covered in dirt and red water.

Red water?

"Ah!" He wiped his hands on his shirt frantically, looking to wipe the crimson copper away. Luckily for him -unluckily as well- the rain began pouring with an earnest endeavor now, fat drops of water splashing against his warm skin. He felt the cold liquid run down his face and form, trailing away to the floor and when he let his eyes follow it, he saw it all.

So much red.

So much crimson.

So much _blood_.

"No. No no no..." He desperately whispered as he started hobbling his way out the alleyway. He took one last look behind him and saw the damning image.

So much blood, it painted the floor of the alleyway like a macabre splotches of paint.

He threw up on the spot as memories flew into his mind.

A robbery.

Running away.

Cornered on a ceiling.

Beaten.

Thrown off.

...

...

...

Dead.

That...That was right...

...

He had died.

He looked at his trembling hands, wishing they would be still so he could just stare at them, but they just wouldn't obey. He tried and tried but they refused the orders his brain gave to them. They shook away, mocking him. Mocking his terror! Though maybe it was...Maybe because...

Maybe because he wasn't the original-

No! He was!

His memories were just-just wrong!

Yes...

Wrong...

He was alive, always had been, always would be.

He'd always be, Jaune Arc.

Living Arc, not dead.

Not dying.

Enduring.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, lots of shit finally going down with some actual conflict between more characters! I know some of you wont agree with how I structured the conflict here, that's fine though! I want you to tell me how I could have improved in this chapter for future reference.**

 **Now I'm just wondering what you all think of Jaune's history with faunus. Some people wanted Jaune to be a bit of a racist which I understood but I decided to take it a different route. I have plenty experience with church and while many people get to see the racist, hateful side of it, I've been well exposed to the community and the tight-knit style that comes with it. An entire city that's banking its entire survival on having people work together means blurring as many lines as possible to keep any ideas of their even being a "them" in the city. It should only ever be "us."**

 **But I want to hear what you guys think about it. Your thoughts, feelings, and concerns regarding this kind of idea that I'm heading towards.**

 **For the new story I'm thinking up right now, I'll probably need a beta for that story so if there's anyone that can volunteer their time, I'd really appreciate it! Thank you in advanced and if you're interested, just stick it in a review or pm me.**

 **Next Chapter: January 28, 2017**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Chapter came out very late! Sorry about that! I was busy tutoring some kids on Saturday which didn't really help the upload schedule. But it's out now and I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

Slow start.

Breathe in.

Out.

Grip the hilt with both hands.

Start with Ox guard.

Blade held at shoulder height pointed straight out.

Thrust forwards.

Breathe.

Twist blade down into Plow guard to block counter-blow using flat side.

Breathe.

Retaliate with horizontal slash then follow up with shoulder to push back opponent.

Breathe.

Reset.

Jaune felt a bead of sweat make its way down his face, outlining his cheek as it slowly forged a path to his chin before dripping onto the floor of the balcony. He ignored the feeling though and continued through his stances with medical precision. It had taken him years to get the swings and stabs right, years more than most at the least. He had never been a natural with the blade. His father hadn't cared though, told him it wasn't a matter of if he could, but when he would.

 _The beatings will continue till morale_ improves sort of thing. _Trials by fire and the whole nine_ put simply.

Practice day in and day out, hour by hour until the swing became as natural as breathing, he told him.

At first, Jaune had taken little pleasure in the practice, grumbling whenever his father forced him to train alongside him. He'd been a scrawny boy and the pain that shot through his limbs every swing was _not_ appreciated. Though, he was slowly beginning to see the value in it now. Bit by bit that was.

Just bits.

His father would go out and train whenever he fought with mother; looking back on it, the haze of confusion that addled him so many years ago was lifted now. Father _never_ yelled at mother, no, Aaron Arc refused to even entertain the _thought_ of raising his voice at his wife, opting to always go outside and train whenever he felt the tides of frustration begin to wear away at his patience. Jaune used to not understand the why behind it, assuming it was just his father choosing to walk away from the issue to get a clearer head.

Only now he realized that it was never about walking away from the issue, but facing it head on. At least, that's what it ended up being for him.

So Jaune trained and while he trained, he thought. He thought about the week's occurrences; from Blake's displeasure and recent disappearance –just one week in and the girl had already disappeared, incredible progress he thought mutedly to himself- to the private conversation Oobleck requested of him. He could only imagine what Oobleck wanted to talk about, probably the history of his people. Though speaking of professors, he would need to ask Ozpin for a report on the progress he's made –if any- in pushing his request for a line of dialogue between the two large cities. He doubted any real progress had been made in just a week, but Ozpin could surprise him, as unlikely as it seemed.

He'd probably go talk to him later tomorrow, early in the morning if it could be managed.

Today though...

Today would be spent between his team and Oobleck.

What a rousing thought.

"Early morning training?"

Speak of the devil.

Jaune froze mid thrust, some sweat flicking off his body from the sudden stop and splattering forwards. He turned his head to see Pyrrha, sans armor and armaments, but a pack bounced on her back. Her head tilted to the side as she asked her question, vibrant green eyes watching his movements, studying them.

He eased his tense muscles, relaxing them while sliding his blade back into its sheath before addressing the girl.

"That and some thinking is all." He rolled his neck to get the kinks out. "Anyone else awake yet?" He didn't see anyone with her, though that wasn't too surprising since Nora and Ren seemed to be quite comfortable heading off on their own for the most part.

She shook her head and pulled out a bottle of water from a pack slung around her shoulder.

"No, both are still sleeping." Pyrrha walked over and put her things down on the bench next to him. "It's only 6 AM right now and it's also a weekend, most students are probably still sleeping." Her eyes flashed over to him for a moment before she returned to her pack, pulling out a towel and her scroll –Jaune still didn't get why they called it that, it wasn't even made of paper!

"But not you, right?" He rolled his eyes while arching back with a yawn. He wasn't too surprised to be honest though since the first time they had met had been early in the morning. She was probably just here to train and having seen her fight beforehand...

Well she clearly wasn't the average student.

She smiled at him and nodded. Silently, she rose up off the bench and began a simple stretching routine, contorting her body impressively, holding difficult poses for minutes at a time. One in particular ended up having her bent over, rear pointed firmly in his-

He decided the ceiling needed some extra attention right then and there.

"Are-Are you alright Jaune?" Pyrrha worriedly asked when she turned to see Jaune with his face straight up to the sky.

He nodded, just enough to get the point across while still locking his eyes straight up at the wonderfully dull ceiling.

"Inspecting the paint job," he stated with a breathy sigh, "it's impressive."

 _Yeah, steel grey with matte black, real impressive..._ Jaune silently cursed himself for the ridiculous statement. Out of all the excuses that came to his mind, he somehow chose the most unconvincing one. Good thing his career choice had been con-artist.

"It's got a certain aesthetic to it I suppose." She looked predictably confused, one end of her neat lips twisting upwards just a tad as she inspected the _impressive_ paint job. "Did you finish training just now then, or are you just taking a small break?" Her hair twirled nicely around her frame as she turned to him.

The only answer he gave was coming to a stand and nodding her by whilst he reentered the training floor.

"Almost." He winked. At least he tried to but he found himself stumbling in that regard when he locked eyes with his partner. He ended up with some finagled double wink -more commonly known as blinking. Jaune felt some heat creep up his flesh and did his best to ignore it, focusing down on sword and how pointy it seemed.

Her lips twisted cutely and she went back to her own exercises, slowly turning away from him as he hacked his blade through the air in a series of simple but effective blows.

With the help of his training taking his focus away, he quickly got used to Pyrrha's silent presence next to him.

As he began winding his maintenance training down, Jaune glanced over one more time and caught Pyrrha's head whipping back into a neutral position. He bit his lip and chewed on a thought for a quick second.

 _Templars don't show off Jaune._ He told himself, even as he pumped his arm full of aura. _She probably won't even see you do it! In fact, why would she even care!? She's a great fighter herself._ All true, which meant he really had nothing to lose so he silenced his thoughts with a single swing.

No. actually.

The word 'swing' would denote that there was a position in which the blade was moving somewhere between points A and B.

Instead, the blade seemed to disappear in a flash of silver as his arm blurred with speed, only to reappear like lightning as he came to the apex of his swing. Jaune felt the wind ripple under the length of the steel and he immediately bent into a low crouch, his off-hand skimming the floor for leverage while he flexed his legs.

Then he _leaped_.

His blade was next to his face, ready to stab forwards as he flew like an arrow onto his faux-foe.

It was satisfying feel his blade crater into the floor like a meteor as it sank deep into the ground.

Pyrrha's impressed gasp was even more satisfying, not that he would ever admit that.

He slowly rose up, careful not to accidently stress his aching muscles any further, and tugged his blade free of its stone sheath.

"That was...impressive." Pyrrha's eyes widened while she inspected the damage he had caused. She poked and prodded at the upturned concrete with a raised eyebrow. She looked interested enough at the damage, lips parting in surprise as she realized just how far the raw blast of aura had gone underground.

Jaune nodded and massaged his neck with a hand.

"Thank you." He walked past her and picked up his canteen to take another drink. "That's actually my father's technique though."

"I thought you didn't know any _dynamic_ moves?" She chuckled at him.

"Never said that." He pointed a thumb down at the floor while his teeth flashed in a smile. True, he had said beforehand that he valued fighting in formation, but that didn't mean he hadn't learned how to fight out of it. "I just don't pull them out often." Probably because he never had much purpose to in the past. His father taught him how to fight on his own quite often but chances to use those lessons came few and far between.

"But you pulled one out for some maintenance training?" She quizzed to him, not noticing the immediate bursting of his pores as he stumbled along to an answer.

"It-I just wanted to uh...Just uh...Practice it!" He waved his hands in front of him while forcing out a hearty laugh, even as his face heated up like a reactor.

"Ah!" She happily chirped, giving him a curt nod. "I get that!"

Jaune released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and weakly laughed.

"We~ll," He stretched back and hid his cheeks,"I think that does it for _this_ morning!" It really was. Jaune didn't feel like making a fool out of himself any further and his workout was technically over, so...

"Oh, um..." Pyrrha reached out with a hand to stop him but quickly retracted it, she tried her best to smile but it came out shaky. Her face flushed red as she coughed into her hand. "I was actually going to ask you for some help!" She quickly waved a hand in the air though in a dissuading manner. "But if you're done I won't hold you!" Her voice petered off near the end ever so slightly.

He stopped in his trek to the showers immediately to look back at her, even as his brain told him not to do. Her lips thinned into a disappointed frown and her eyes were downcast to the floor. One hand wrapped around her stomach and the other was placed gently over its elbow. She turned with a sigh and Jaune felt his lips open for some words that he was sure to choke on soon enough.

"I still have plenty of time!" He cringed internally even as he said it. Like he could make it sound any more obvious what his intentions...were? Actually, Jaune himself wasn't even too sure about his intentions doing this. Sure, he found her attractive, but Shiloh wasn't exactly lacking beautiful women either, though when he thought about it, his only real interactions with women came from his family members.

But when she turned with a dazzling smile, he decidedly ignored his apprehensions.

"Perfect!" She clapped her hands together. "I've been wanting to train with you since I saw your fight with Cardin!"

 _Since_ his fight with Cardin?

 _That wasn't even too long ago_ , he thought to himself.

"Well, exactly what do you have in mind?" Honest question as well. Having seen Pyrrha fight earlier made it abundantly clear the girl was probably leagues ahead of him on the technical scale –no, forget leagues, when it came to the technical aspects of combat, she was clearly in a completely different dimension from him. He couldn't really see anything he was particularly good at that she couldn't accomplish already.

"Friendly spar?"

Jaune felt his aching muscles scream at him to refuse but he edged onward. He was probably going to get thrashed judging by his current state, but he still couldn't find it within himself to refuse her request.

"Hope you're ready to lose." He chuckled weakly, rolling his neck while he put his blade down on the bench and walked with her to the center of the training room floor.

They stood across from each other there, both slowly rising up into their respective fighting stances. Jaune shifted his legs further apart as he anticipated her approach, or hoped for it really. He had already seen her ability to counter and he wasn't confident his offensive pressure could break through the steel wall that was her defense.

Lucky for him, she soon took a breath...

And _lunged_.

"Ah!" Jaune nearly stumbled when her right fist came crashing into his guard out of nowhere. He barely got his hands up to block the heavy handed strike and Jaune felt his feet skid back as she pushed him further.

 _What the hell is this girl!_ Jaune grunted and pushed her back, throwing out a quick set of jabs while quickly stepping back for distance. He had to bend backwards, nearly reaching a full 90 degree bend, when Pyrrha weaved between his blows and threw out a devastating front kick, her muscled leg flashing out and eviscerating the air his torso had just occupied.

Jaune's hands wrapped up and around her leg before it could retract, pinning it to his own body while he twisted. Pyrrha gasped when she found herself toppling to the floor with Jaune as he used his position to pin her leg down with his body. He transitioned quickly though, relinquishing his hold for just a moment, positioning himself on top of her, his thighs squeezing down as hard as he could on her body.

"Ack!" Pyrrha coughed out as Jaune continued squeezing while he reared his fists back for a series of blows to her face. She reacted quickly though, bucking her hips while catching his hands and bringing him down, quickly wrapping one arm around his neck while pulling herself upwards.

 _Can't...Breath!_ Jaune wrapped his fingers around the forearm that restricted his breathing but realized her hold was closed tight and locked in. If this continued, he would pass out in no time at all. He had to do something. Anything!

Jaune tried to lift one leg upwards to start kneeing her but Pyrrha saw through it and used her own feet to straighten it back out, kicking out every time he tried something.

Jaune pushed one hand into her face and began raking, desperately trying to get her off of him but she persisted, roughly swinging her head to bat his hand aside, then leaning in to block off that area of attack. Her face was protected now and she wasn't letting him use his legs so Jaune redoubled his efforts in getting her to release her grip.

He poured aura into his hands as he grabbed a finger off the locking hand and began pulling on it like a winch, bending it backwards. Pyrrha yelped and the rest of the hand came off with it, giving Jaune the opportunity to break her hold with a harsh shove.

They stood there, Pyrrha shaking her injured hand while watching him warily. Her breathing was heavy though controlled, slow and methodical despite the harshness of each.

Jaune on the other hand looked far worse for wear; rubbing the tenderized flesh of his neck while he stumbled back a few steps to gain more distance. His breathing was haggard and he coughed several times, throat still feeling blocked after the violent exchange.

He peered at her with his blue eyes and she matched his gaze with her green ones. Pyrrha seemed eager to redo that exchange, a bright smile adorning her face –though the edge it held was very evident. She hopped in place a few times, breathing rhythmically.

She was going on the offensive again and Jaune wasn't sure he could hold out on another assault like that. His muscles had felt like they had been doused in gasoline and that grappling exchange with Pyrrha had provided the spark to light them up.

He didn't have time to think of a strategy though, not when Pyrrha slammed a fist into his guard like a battering ram.

He grunted and was shoved back far more easily. His guard had been completely blown away with that strike and Jaune was beginning to wonder if Pyrrha should have been the one with explosive gauntlets. Another punch in the face cemented those ideas, tossing his head back like it'd been struck by a whip, leaving a stinging sensation on his nose.

Jaune rushed forwards in the midst of the blows and tackled the smaller girl, pressing his body deep into hers to keep her from moving too much. He couldn't let this be a striking match anymore, grappling her wasn't a good idea either but he'd probably die trying to fight her standing up. The best he could do was stall her out for the time being while he recovered some strength.

The only problem seemed to be Pyrrha herself, who had apparently caught on with his strategy. She grunted and twisted her body like a bucking bull, looking to throw him off but Jaune held on tightly, holding her down. Every move she made wasted more of his energy and they both knew it.

Jaune was just too stubborn to take the loss without a fight.

She grunted and wrapped her legs around him while slamming punches into the back of his skull, but Jaune dug deeper and tried his best to ignore it while sealing off any bigger movements from her.

Seconds ticked by and Jaune realized he wasn't getting any air, his lungs were starting to stall like a broken generator. His face turned red as he used the last of his energy and air to roar while he tightened his hold on the girl below him, ignoring the sharp blows that rained on him.

"Phew!" They froze when a whistle sounded above them. "Didn't know you were into such rough play there red head."

Jaune and Pyrrha turned their heads to see Yang standing above them, gleeful smirk plastered on her face while she observed them like animals. The blonde placed one hand on her knee while she bent over and fanned herself with the other.

"So...maybe the two of you should take this back to your dorm? Gym floor might not be the best place to _finish_."

Jaune extricated himself from Pyrrha and helped the champion fighter to her feet. Her face was flush –from either effort or embarrassment he couldn't tell. He shot Yang a quick glare while he dusted himself off.

"It was a spar, spark a few neurons and you'd know that." He rolled his eyes jokingly but couldn't hide the way his cheeks

"Spark a few more and maybe you'll come up with an insult that hurts." Yang teased back with a grin.

Jaune shook his head slowly while he brushed past the girl, not bothering to avoid eye contact despite his colored cheeks. He could vaguely hear Pyrrha stammering out excuses while Yang moved onto her, teasing her relentlessly. Glancing back, he could see her face turning practically nuclear with heat.

 _Keep walking Jaune, you've still got the rest of the day ahead of you._

And what a day it seemed like it would be.

* * *

A scroll rang with a cheery tune, a light set of jingles that sounded pleasing to the ear.

"For fucks sake..."

Not pleasing enough though.

Roman Torchwick blanched at his scroll as he read the caller id of woman –no, demon- that was calling him. She never called unless it was to either reprimand him or give him a new order; the two things he _really_ didn't feel like dealing with today. For her orders were sometimes bothersome, often difficult, and always ridiculous.

He sighed and pressed his thumb onto the receive button, readying himself for whatever new circus he'd be put through.

"Roman." Her voice and face filtered through onto the scroll. She bored her unimpressed into him from across the digital world and blew out a sigh. "Your weekly report?"

Weekly reports.

How she thought things would change in such drastic measures in mere week long periods was beyond him, but he wasn't in a position to argue so he barked out his recited lines.

"A couple more stolen shipments, nothing large scale just yet." Her displeasure showed at that with a nasty upturning of her lips. She had made it quite vocal that she didn't appreciate his _lack of drive_ , telling him that he was taking too long to ramp up operations and that if he didn't _find his ambition_ , so to speak, she would find it for him. While he hadn't had that displeasure just yet, he inferred that it involved lots of fire and pain. "SDC is having some shipments incoming, we're planning on hitting those _dearie_." His tone was slick with agitation –a dangerous game he knew, but he was feeling a bit riskier with such distance between them.

She snarled and even separated with so much landmass Roman felt the pores along his forehead burst with sweat. He was starting to regret his choice of tone.

"Watch what you intone your voice with Roman." She snapped at him. The way she said every single word sent shivers down his spine, like she wanted him to remember where his place on the totem pole was –that was to say, not on it all.

Like he cared though, she could prattle about how she was the boss as much as she wanted, but he was Roman-Fucking-Torchwick; the biggest bad guy in Vale! He wouldn't just bend the knee like some barely pubescent child being reprimanded by his mother.

...

"Yes mam."

...

His mouth seemed to move without his brain however.

Or perhaps with mouth _was_ moving with his brain and he was stuck trying with just his heart.

"Now, the _unknown_?" She asked, though someone to her left seemed to capture her attention in a not-so-polite manner it seemed judging by her snarl. He almost felt bad for whoever had raised her ire with such ease. "-ian, I'm busy doing _actual_ work!" Her face snapped back to him though it took some more seconds for her to bring her glaring eyes back into position. "The unknown Roman? I don't have all day."

"Ah yes, well..." He coughed, not used to seeing her be so flustered around someone. Usually she just burned anyone who put her in difficult situations. "The unknown, he's...well he's-" Was there a good way to tell people you had _literally_ nothing? He doubted it and he doubted Cinder would be particularly happy to hear that. "He's...um...Well, I think he's from..." Roman chewed on the end of his cigar as he brought some words out to stall. He dusted down his jacket nervously as Cinder raised an eyebrow. "You see Cindy-" _Fuck! Terrible choice of-_

"CINDY!?" A voice off-screen exploded with maniacal laughter. Great whooping laughs that easily reached the speaker and Roman felt something crawl down his throat and die in his stomach.

Probably his hopes of survival.

Cinder-Cindy-Fall didn't even seem to glare at him. No. No, it was much worse than that. Her eyes seemed like pure orbs of fire, raging in their sockets as her mouth hung open in raw shock. Her lips opened and closed in abject objection but someone quickly sounded off screen once again.

"Perhaps we should call you that as well!" The maniacal voice cooed at Cinder, prompting her to focus her wrath at him.

Whoever was talking needed to shut up before he got him killed. Or worse.

"Tyrian," her breathing was harsh and short, filled with rage. Roman could imagine the horrid heat that came with each one, the air turning and twisting as it reached blistering temperatures. "I'm busy, now leave." It was short, harsh, and utterly terrifying.

Whoever this Tyrian was, Roman could only surmise that he was either incredibly powerful, incredibly stupid, or both.

"Now Roman," Cinder returned to their scene and her anger was very much palpable. "You haven't found anything about this _unknown_ , have you?"

He pulled on his collar and flashed a nervous grin. "It's taking a bit more time-"

"Well that settles it." She snapped a finger and brought some flame to life. "Clearly you need a _helping_ hand." He felt his throat clench. "Some encouragement from a _superior_. So I'll be coming... _Right now._ " The way she said it let him know the only help he'd be getting would be in stuffing his charred remains inside a mason jar.

The connection died before he could voice out any protest.

It seemed like the boss would be coming back soon.

Roman tried his best to mold into the furniture as he groaned.

* * *

Jaune smiled in pleasure as he walked out of the training building, body free of sweat and muscles soothed from the warm water of the showers. He still had plenty of time to kill till he had to go meet with Oobleck so his plan was to finally go see the rest of Vale. In just a scant few days, he had spent so much time in Beacon that he had almost forgotten his original mission to learn the customs and practices of the Central Kingdoms, which just wouldn't do. While it wasn't set in stone when they would send in another representative to assist him, it was made quite clear that time was of the utmost importance.

"H-Hey, Jaune!" Pyrrha suddenly appeared next to him, just barely catching him by the shoulder. Her cheeks were a bit flushed and her hair was still damp, Jaune could smell the pleasant scent of soap that permeated the air around her. She huffed a bit, catching her breath before she continued. "I...uh...I just wanted to thank you for helping me with my training."

"You don't have to thank me for something like that." He waved it away with a smile and a laugh. "Besides, I doubt you even benefited that much from it..." She had controlled the engagement almost every step of the way and had the fight continued Jaune really couldn't have seen himself winning at any point. Perhaps it was the exhaustion but he was sure they both knew that wasn't true. Speaking of exhaustion though... "Did you already finish training?" He asked quizzically.

"Oh! I uh...I...That is to say..." Pyrrha stammered out, coughing into her hand. "I finish...quickly?" She hazard a guess.

Jaune stared at her with a blank expression while he tried to read into that statement.

"Oh, well...that's interesting..." _The aggregate sum of everyone's social skills present in this room would equate to a potato..._ Jaune though grimly as she nervously laughed into her hands. "You know," Why had he said that? How in the world would she know when this was the first time he had mentioned? "I was actually planning on going out to Vale today." He didn't even know why he was mentioning this to her of all people, Ren was his partner after all. Then again, if Ren came along that meant Nora _had_ to be there and he didn't think he'd get much done with her tagging along... "I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me, check out the city?"

"Wait what!?"

Apparently he might as well have asked her to slap him in the face with her reaction as it were. Jaune didn't really get it but he clarified for her anyways.

"I'm just asking you to go out with me?" Simple request, he didn't really see the issue in the matter, though Pyrrha seemed to find some serious ones. Maybe she was incredibly busy? "If you're not able, that's fine. I can ask-" not Ren, that was already out of the question because of Nora. Maybe someone from Ruby's team? Probably Ruby herself. He didn't get to finish his statement however when Pyrrha's hand came slamming down on his shoulder and she looked at him with renewed resolve.

"No! No, I'm just-the way you worded that..." She breathed slowly and carefully. "You're just asking me to show you around the city right? Help you get acquainted?" She asked with a sigh and shaky smile.

Jaune slowly nodded, happy to see that she had come to understand his request, though he didn't know where the confusion had come in the first place. "I'm just looking for someone to help me understand the culture of Vale."

"Ohhhh." She sighed heavily and looked down, muttering something that Jaune couldn't catch. She then looked up at him with weary grin. "I can do that Jaune, but please, phrasing."

"My grammar is fine?" His mother had made sure his grasp on the language had been iron tight. Daily lessons in proper grammar usage, proper inflections, and appropriate tone; such was the way of the Arc family mother, so terrible it was.

"Not grammar Jaune, not grammar." Pyrrha giggled and seemed to take stride in his confusion. "Though...I'm not actually well versed in the culture of this city either!" She shrugged at him. "After all, I've only been here for about as long as you have. But I'm sure that it's not too-"

Ah! That was right; Pyrrha was also new to this city, which meant this would be a learning experience for her as much as him. That meant they would _both_ need assistance to understand the alien Valean ways! He slammed a closed fist into an open palm and looked onward with confidence. "You're right Pyrrha! I'll go ask Ruby and Yang to help as well since they're natives!"

"Wait no that's not what I meant!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears however when Jaune sped off to find the two bombastic sisters.

"Don't worry Pyrrha, I'm sure they'll help us! Ruby's nice and Yang is...um...well she's related to Ruby so she can't be all that bad!"

He didn't even hear Pyrrha's groaning.

* * *

"So let me get this straight Pumpkin-Spice," Yang took a large sip of her triple chocolate, non-fat milk, deep mocha, deep cream, Frappuccino with a whole lotta whip and a whole lotta cream while she addressed her. "Ahem, you too Vomit-Cannon," she pointed to Jaune who sat right to her right.

"My name is Jaune?" He corrected but Yang ignored him and barreled forwards.

"So you need me and Ruby to help you two...what was it again Rubes?" She quickly asked the smaller girl sitting beside her. Yang took another sip out of her...delicious -she didn't want to judge someone else's tastes- drink.

Ruby looked to her older sister and nodded her head slowly. "They wanted help seeing the city. Jaune _just_ said that... Like, literally just a minute ago." Her voice was cute and confused as she answered her sister. Pyrrha resisted the near-insurmountable urge to pinch her cheeks and aww at her, instead choosing to correct the girl.

"No," she started with a sigh, " _Jaune_ needs some assistance in getting to understand our culture better. I don't really need a guide myself since I doubt Vale and Mistral are particularly different." Truth be told they were very different, but Pyrrha had spent quite a bit of time researching as much as she could about Vale before she had actually come... Not that she had any intentions of letting anyone know that little tidbit.

"Uh huh..." Yang stared at her from above the rim of her drink, eyes dancing across her form as a grin formed along her lips. "So you don't need any help learning about Vale?"

"I-I don't... I don't think so...?" Pyrrha felt uneasy as Yang nodded and took another thoughtful sip from her drink. The way Yang looked at her put the edge on, which was something she was unused to for the most part. Not too many people had ever treated her like...well, like prey, if she was being honest. Yang watched her with purple eyes, those orbs dancing across her form with ease and putting a strange pressure on Pyrrha. Being a Champion usually meant nobody wanted to spend too much time in your presence to begin with and after her incredibly long string of devastating victories, even less people dared to approach her.

But apparently Yang Xiao-Long didn't care at all for that sort of thing, choosing to continue her stare down while she spoke once more.

"We~ll then, who am I to argue with the great Pyrrha Nikos of all people?" Yang cooed while slowly coming to a stand. "I guess that leaves little ol' Jaune here all alone." She sauntered over to Jaune who stiffened like a rock. "Since Pyrrha can handle herself, how about I show you around!?" She placed her hands around Jaune's shoulders and gently gestured for him to rise up.

"Wa-Wait!" Pyrrha stood up as well and stuck her palm out immediately to stop them. Yang immediately let go, letting Jaune fall back into his seat. "How about-...um... How about all of us go together?" She proposed with a shaky smile, unwilling to let Yang just walk away with her team leader. Who knew what kind of _culture_ Jaune would learn with Yang of all people teaching him.

"Sounds a bit unwieldy dontcha think?"

"It'll be easier that way!" She shot out, though she couldn't really see any logic in the statement herself. Apparently it showed because even Jaune seemed to not understand her reasoning either. "I mean, we can all give our input as we show Jaune the city!"

"That doesn't seem very efficient..." Jaune said to her.

Pyrrha silently urged him to stop speaking.

"Yeah," Ruby spoke up this time with a frown aimed directly at her. "Wouldn't it be better for Jaune if he just had one person explaining everything to him?"

"Ma-Maybe so, but perhaps-"

"Having so many people could also slow down how fast we're able to travel and how many things we could show him!" Yang piped up once again.

"No, we could just-"

"Oh, if we want him to learn culture, we should ask Weiss!" Ruby's proud face and expression was all for naught as the three of them blanched at the thought, though each for different reasons. Yang and Jaune probably just didn't fancy having to deal with her hoity-toity attitude all day while Pyrrha just didn't want to have _another_ individual for what was supposed to be a two person thing.

"Definitely not Weiss!" Pyrrha quickly voiced out the three of their thoughts and quickly motioned for Ruby to put her scroll back down mid-dial. She did with a bit of a disappointed whine but it was for the better, Pyrrha told herself.

Having Weiss Schnee here would probably end with Jaune receiving the cold shoulder for the entirety of his trip. Quite literally at that if Weiss was feeling particularly snippy.

"Look, maybe we should just head out and figure it out as we go?" Jaune suggested amicably, seemingly eager to just get going with the rest of his day. Pyrrha opened her mouth to add something to the idea but gave a quick glance at Yang who pulled Ruby to the side with a Cheshire grin.

"I'm sure Yang and Ruby are busy today as well, maybe we should let them head back first?" She tried to sound as helpful as she could, smiling brightly while at him with all of her teeth. At Jaune's understanding nod she sighed in relief. He seemed quite easy to convince sometimes...

They turned back to the two sisters who had just finished their small discussion and Ruby seemed to have come across some great revelation. Pyrrha opened her mouth to speak but Ruby beat her to the punch quite easily.

"Oh, you wanted to go on a date with Jaune today, THAT'S why you want us to leave!" Ruby quite _loudly_ exclaimed with a sort of confidence only youth could exude. "We can leave righ-"

"No! Nope! That's not right at all!" Pyrrha blushed at the errant comment while she quieted the younger girl down with some gentle hand motions. She truthfully had no plans for going on a date with Jaune! He was handsome, nice, and considerate certainly; and he also treated her the same way he treated everyone else; and he was quite strong as well; and...

Okay, so maybe she wanted a date for superficial reasons!

But that was for the future! Not now, not when Jaune simply wanted to learn more about the city. Really all she wanted to do was get a little closer to her foreign born leader; share some of her own culture with his, help him find his place in what he called the Central Kingdoms, the simple things.

"A date? Like on a calendar?" Jaune suddenly asked, his lips twisted into a frown.

"Oh boy, well let mommy Yang teach you about this!"

If Pyrrha interjected faster than bullet from Crescent Rose. "NO-OH-OPE!" She was _not_ letting Yang of all people explain this one to Jaune! "Look, it's really not something that concerns you right now." She gently explained, hoping he would leave the issue –and her embarrassment along with it- behind. Though it seemed Yang didn't want to ascribe to that course of action.

"Actually Jauney boy, I'd say it has _everything_ to do with _you_ and Pumpkin-Spice over here." Yang said in a sultry voice as she fanned herself with one hand. Ruby coughed and jabbed her in the ribs, her face red as well, not that Pyrrha could really say anything about it with her own skin tone being the way it was.

Yang put her glossy lips across the rim of her cup while she took another deep sip of her Frappuccino, savoring the taste. Pyrrha met her gaze with one of her own but was unable to hold it.

She could fight the best fighters in the world and compete on a professional level, bringing even trained hunters to their knees with her honed talent and ability. But Yang Xiao-Long wasn't fighting her in the ring right now and she certainly wasn't throwing any punches Pyrrha could see and counter easily. It was far different game and they both new Pyrrha had very little experience playing it. Light teasing at her behest and then some seemed to be the defined ruleset.

Pyrrha felt her competitive attitude flare up as she realized she would lose if she tried to fight Yang on this sort of turf.

Pyrrha Nikos _did not lose_.

"So then Jauney boy, you ready to head out?" Yang once again motioned for the two to take leave of the store, and Pyrrha knew what Yang was looking for.

Confirmation.

She wanted Pyrrha to stop them and interject herself in some fashion. A signal of resignation, that Pyrrha Nikos had been bested in contest. That Yang's actions had gotten to her and that she had been right all along.

She felt some worry when the idea popped into her mind, but she shook it away. Jaune was little more than a friend right now as it were, perhaps more should the future allow, but it wasn't the future now so really there was no harm in letting him go as it were.

It was a real shame though; she had to contend that discomfort of simply giving up her first weekend with Jaune to Yang of all people for a victory.

Jaune started to rise up as well, silently mouthing out to Pyrrha that he still didn't get anything that had just happened, letting her know he was indeed just as oblivious as she had originally thought. Pyrrha deliberated for all of one second –a champion fighter didn't win by _thinking_ every second during an ongoing match after all- and made her move.

"Good luck Yang, I'll take Ruby back to Beacon for you!" A risky move, but the shock on Yang's face was certainly worth it. "Have fun on your date!"

"Wait WHAT!?"

 _Oh yes._

Pyrrha's mind heartily supplied her with the image of Yang's face, stamped into her memories for time immemorial. A visage of surprise and complete shock, mouth open wide and eyes even wider. Sure, it was a shame she couldn't spend time with Jaune, but there were plenty of weekends to come and she did have three other teammates to meet with.

Also...-she spared one last glance back and saw Yang still watching her in frozen shock.

Winning was _always_ worth it.

Pyrrha walked out of those doors feeling quite good about herself.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally done! This chapter was difficult to write and it didn't really come all that easy to me at all. I struggled pretty much every step of the way and it was difficult to flesh out the dialogue which is why it might sound a bit strange.**

 **For those who think Pyrrha's decision to let Jaune go with Yang is OOC, please keep in mind that Pyrrha is NOT the love struck little girl here that she is in canon. She's a champion fighter, not some little girl who has no idea how to interact with other people. The main show acted like she had NO competitive attitude whatsoever which annoyed me to no end since it implied that everything she had accomplished up to then was just some wishy washy bullshit.**

 **Could you imagine someone becoming the number one UFC fighter in the welterweight division and acting like Pyrrha did? She wasn't** _ **humble**_ **by any means –I mean she was, but she wasn't just that. Pyrrha didn't seem to have a passion for literally** _ **anything**_ **except for Jaune throughout the entirety of her story arc. Like she had some desire to help people so she gave up her life and that was it...**

 **She NEVER displayed a competitive attitude anywhere else, and it just rubbed me the wrong way.**

 **For those wondering if this will actually lead to romance, sorry but I don't plan on putting in much romance to this story. There'll be some little things but mainly only because they're all still teenagers and hormones ARE a thing in the RWBY-verse I assume.**

 **Next Chapter: February 11th (I promise this time!)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Jesus Christ! I just finished this chapter today, this morning, hours earlier... I've been thinking hard about what direction to take the story and after much deliberation, I've finally come to an agreement. Not that I'll be telling you of course! I'd like to keep that too myself.**

 **Aside from that, I've been managing my stock portfolio just a little bit closer since it's earnings season now! Gotta keep an eye on those gains ya' know?**

 **If you're interested in investing and working together to do some hard due diligence, hmu!**

 **Now without further ado, let's start!**

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

Silence spread through the Lord's Council chamber, creeping across the floor like a mold as it reached into the darkest corners. The ceiling of the room stretched deep into the air, so high that it disappeared into darkness where the tapestry couldn't be seen during the pitch of night. Those hopeful images obscured by such gloaming.

A group of men and women sat around a gargantuan table; its surface massive, wooden, and reaching so far across that each individual seemed to be segregated to their own little corner of the bark world. Dim lamps illuminated the surface just enough so that one could make out the many etchings on it if he or she squinted. Each etching was a story. Sometimes a person, other times a place or a thing, but they all wove together to tell a very old tale.

Though it seemed nobody was interested in reading stories, at least not tonight it seemed.

"We won't have enough men..." The distinctly masculine and deep voice said, ringing across the large hall while the propagator shuffled some papers he'd been reading through.

Another, gentler voice spoke up in response, urging with a patient tone. "Young Arc is acquiring us some as we speak, give him time." A series of gruff huffs sounded from the dim light.

The deep voice drummed a finger on the table, producing rhythmic deep taps. "Time is the one thing we lack in." He retorted. "We can't give something we don't have any more of."

"Ah..." Contemplation mixed with mild annoyance filled a new voice. It was older, not as deep but it had a gravel quality to it. "So what do you propose we do then? Wallow in self-pity? Perhaps we should roll over, die, and become one with the dirt beneath our feet?"

Another struggled growl signaled displeasure while the deep voice bit back, tempered and measured but with a fire beneath very much evident. "Ashkelon or Abydos, we hire someone out." A chorus of sharp laughs let him know just how his idea had been taken by those around him.

"Pirates? You want to hire pirates!?" A loud and sharp voice barked out between laughs, the point of propagation slapped his hands on the table as he spat out his words. "Why don't we just stab each other in the backs now? Save the coin _and_ the time you're so fond of!" He derided while splaying his hands out to the others.

"The men of Abydos are certainly...dubious, no doubt-" The deep voice whispered, "but Ashkelonian mercenaries are loyal to their coin into death." He explained, sliding some parchments forwards for the rest to read. "I've taken it upon myself to ask for... _pricing options_." He repeated the title of the parchment with more than a little disgust, his shadowed face twisting nightmarishly. "We can afford this, just barely, but we can."

Several sets of eyes roamed over the offer as it was passed along, flashing over the neatly typed ink letters and numbers. Most of them looked aghast at the offer, one very audibly sounded out her disbelief.

"They want SEVEN MILLION TONS of raw dust!?" A feminine voice shrieked. She hacked out a series of coughs, slapping a hand against her chest as the sheer shock choked her. "Seven million tons can power Shiloh non-stop for well over year!" Shiloh may have sat on an enormous dust reserve residing deep underground, past The Forge even, but to ask for so much... "What are they using it for!?"

"Well apparently it's 'nothing to do with we primitive folks'..." The older voice seethed with rage as he read aloud, a rather snide line near the bottom of the paper. "Primitive!" He balked. "Coming from a city that values whores above soldiers!" He hissed and crumpled the paper into a small ball before tossing it away behind him, not wanting to taint his eyes any further.

"And what of the price?" The deep voice ignored the biting words. "Do you think a Central Kingdom won't charge us similarly?" He got up out of his chair and slowly trailed around the table. "They live in privilege and decadence just like those 'Ashkelonian whores' you're so fond of deriding." He bent down and picked up the crumpled ball, unfolding it carefully as he returned to his seat. "The fact is that those 'hunters' also have a price, and with how indispensable they _supposedly_ are to the survival of their cities..." He smoothed the wrinkled parchment, his gold offering. "Well, I doubt they'll come in any cheaper."

"He has a point." Another velvety voiced woman piped up, shrugging nonchalantly as she nodded to everyone. "We don't even know what price we're comparing it to just yet. Perhaps if we wait for young Arc to return with an offer an-"

"And how long, pray tell, will _that_ take?" He interrupted, flaring up as he swatted her patient words out of the air with his hand. "The months fly by faster and the Grimm are nearing our city as we speak!" His voice hissed through the air. "We get these mercenaries _now_ and we can at least accustom them to how we fight before The Night comes, but if we wait too long..." He jabbed a finger into the paper, emphasizing the deal with every word. "We. Won't. Have. Time." He ended on a heavy breath, chest rising up and down as he looked to the others.

They ruminated on his words then, chewing on them as they wondered if they should eventually swallow them down.

Finally, after some time passed, the old voice piped up again.

"Compromise is key... We wait –no longer than a couple of weeks!" He quickly amended before the protesting could start again. "-for young Arc to reply. Bishop Hammond sent word to him already via raven. I'm confident he'll reply soon."

"Soon you say..."

"Soon." He nodded.

The 'hopefully' was left out, of course.

* * *

Yang had been through a lot in her life. Between losing her mom, losing Ruby's mom, all the fights with her father, and learning to take care of her speed-tastic baby sister, she had been pretty sure life wouldn't have too many curveballs left to throw at her now.

The chamber was empty, so to speak.

"This is incredible…"

Turns out life had a speed-loader in the form of Jaune Arc.

Looking at him now was a stark contrast to the image she had been introduced to just a few days ago. Jaune at Beacon had been stable, firm -perhaps a bit too much if one had asked her for an honest opinion- but the gist came down to his militancy. It kind of reminded her of her father after Qrow brought her and Ruby back from their quest. Strict, stern, and unmistakably morbid. But today…

She turned to see Jaune watching the enormous, wide-screen, high definition monitor with wide eyes and an open mouth. The 'monitor' -just a video billboard to be clear- was nothing special and was looped, playing a continuous advertisement for Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes. Just another waste of real estate and money to pedal a product that would probably kill more people annually than Grimm attacks.

Yang sighed.

 _There's a blond joke somewhere here._ She thought to herself.

"You know we're burning daylight, right?" She impatiently put her hands on her hips. "There's plenty more to learn about Vale than a few advertisements."

Jaune slowly peeled his eyes off the image to turn to her. "Is this sort of thing normal across the Kingdoms?" He pointed to another billboard - one displaying some toothpaste it seemed- and ignoring her completely.

Yang rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, dental hygiene is pretty important _everywhere_ forest boy." She chuckled and placed her hands on her hips. "But if you mean the billboards, then yes, those are prevalent too, maybe more-so than the hygiene." Some of the boys back in Patch spoke testament to that.

He nodded dumbly and began walking beside her, taking in the sights as they traversed the city.

"How do you afford these sorts of things?" Jaune voiced, disbelief welling in his voice. "I-I understand the concepts but…"

She watched him shake his head and speed up past her, coming across a small scroll shop, models lined the windows and some cheesy posters were hung up displaying the _'Newest Brand!'_ She was pretty sure it was outdated by nearly two full years.

Yang shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, most people have jobs to pay for this kind of stuff. It's really not all that expensive." Then again, literally every member of her immediate family had been a hunter and it wasn't exactly like jobs were scarce in that profession.

Jaune once again shook his head at her. "I don't mean how _you_ specifically can afford this." He put a hand up to the glass and just looked at the foreign devices. "How does you society afford to make this sort of thing." He clarified with a whisper, looking at each device one by one. "They don't even look like they're meant for military use…"

"'Cause they aren't?" Yang abruptly replied. Sure, hunters used scrolls to contact people but hunters weren't a part of the military.

"So they're just for…for entertainment?"

The idea seemed so foreign to him and Yang just had to wonder what the hell kind of place he came from. He looked back through the glass, this time staring at each one in a different light, as though he had come to some great epiphany, but it had left him with a startling number of questions.

"Don't you have a scroll or something?" She asked, honestly curious. He _had_ to have a scroll, not having one would be the equivalent of cutting off one's eyes and ears –then again, he had suggested something similar already…

Jaune didn't even look at her to reply. "No." He answered curtly. "Shiloh doesn't have anything this…advanced, but we do have 'something'…" Air quotes let her know that in some strange and winding path, the concept of sarcasm had still somehow been translated across civilizations. "But the range is limited and it doesn't pack nearly the same amount of features." He mumbled a bit disappointedly.

Yang looked cross though and tapped him on the shoulder to turn him around. "Jaune, you're telling me," she pulled out her own scroll and shoved it forwards towards him to look at, "that you don't have. A. SCROLL?" The sheer lunacy…

"Do I need one?" He seemed so honest with his question Yang almost fell for it. Almost.

"Yeah vomit boy, you kind of do." She crossed her arms before her in a large 'X' and said quite matter-of-factly. "How do you plan on calling on your locker when you need your weapons or calling for backup?" She felt scandalized in some strange way when he pursed his lips for a moment and very calmly nodded his head to the side.

"My weapons usually stay on my person and backup isn't really a thing in Shiloh so…"

She winced at that. Ren had said earlier they lived a far more gruesome life but she was beginning to get a peek at what that had exactly meant and truth be told, she didn't like the sound of it. "Okay wait, let's get backtrack a bit!" She backpedaled from the topic they were on to the one they had started with. "What are you trying to learn about Vale by exploring the city again?" She asked.

"The climate-"

"Yeah yeah." She stopped him abruptly with a wave of her hand. "But what does that _mean_?" Though truth be told, she wasn't even sure why she was even asking. They weren't exactly friends, though it seemed he and Ruby got along –and even _that_ wasn't quite clear after Ruby heard about how strict his culture could be. Jaune was attractive, sure, but she had her fair share of good looking men in her life and Jaune wasn't exactly hitting the highest notes so it definitely wasn't that. "You say the climate of the city but that could mean anything! How about you give a simpler answer we can go off."

"Eh…? I guess I just want to know _why_." He answered with a nod. "I don't need to be told _what_ the differences are –they aren't exactly subtle" Jaune chuckled weakly at that. "I need to know why these differences exist."

He sounded so lost and Yang, well, she…

She…

She honestly couldn't relate to that at all. When she had been physically lost with Ruby in the forest she had felt a more panicky and utter-terror sort of thing, not really a _lost in translation_ sort of thing. But Jaune felt that way, and Yang did owe him for taking care of her sister when she fought Roman Torchwick –quick as Ruby was to correct her understanding since 'she would have totally won either way'- so at the very least she could try and help him. "Well, let's keep going then, we're not exactly going to come across an answer staring at some scrolls." She sighed.

Jaune nodded and straightened up, leaving the window and returning next to her.

"Are we going to be walking _everywhere_?" Jaune flicked his eyes towards her. "I understand not being able to fly all the time using the bullheads but where are the trains?" He honestly asked, craning his neck as he searched for some rails.

"We don't really use trains for personal transportation." So they had trains at least. That picture of what Shiloh looked like cleared up another little bit. "Cars are more convenient. Motorcycles doubly that." Unless one had an overbearing father who believed motorcycles were too dangerous for his 'darling little baby.' Then the situation could get a bit muddied.

"Cars?"

 _Oh for the love of..._ Yang pointed at one of the vehicles passing by them on the road, a Rotes Model V; not too shabby to look at though they only came in one color pallet, red. "Car. It's like a train except it doesn't need rails." She explained, though she didn't really think Jaune would get the idea all that well. He probably thought it was powered by invisible magic at this point.

"Sounds simple enough but... _why?_ " He just cringed as one passed them by a bit too fast, barreling on by like a rocket and sending the wind hurtling towards them. Yang watched it as well and paused for a moment, simply watching.

 _And... There it is!_ She hollered in her mind as a police siren sounded high and whiny and a cop car came speeding out from a corner to chase down the traffic violator. "Probably cause of convenience?" She said to him, watching the officer disappear as he followed along.

"Wouldn't a train be just as convenient?"

Yang balked at the statement. "Ugh, cars also have the freedom to go where you want whenever you want." Truthfully, the only thing that mattered. The motorcycle was the same thing and when Yang had finally acquired her dear Bumblebee, she could still remember the excitement and liberty she felt. The wind ripping around her while she sped down the highway at speeds far too fast to be healthy, laughing the whole length, even as she was brought to the police station where they dressed her down before Taiyang came to pick her up and scold her further.

A very good night overall.

"Sounds disruptive..." He admitted to her, looking a bit disgruntled with the idea. Yang scoffed at his apprehensions which garnered a further response. "What? You honestly can't tell me you think it's not disruptive."

Another two cop cars passed them by, lights flashing brightly and accentuating his point a tad.

She puffed up her chest though and answered confidently. "Never said it wasn't! We just prefer absolute freedom, even if the cost is some convenience."

"And safety." Jaune interjected. "Seems like-" Another three cop cars passed them by, Yang noted the number and turned to follow one of them for just a second, wondering a smidge where the hell they were all going. "Seems like it's not easy to keep track of everything. The railway system in Shiloh makes it easy to keep track of the civilian population and where everybody is."

"Seems a bit overbearing, don't you think?" Kind of sounded like living with Taiyang and Qrow, the two people who _always_ had to know where she and her sister were at all times. Though his situation probably wasn't nearly as drunk all the time. "Do your people enjoy being watched all the time?"

"They aren't? The only places we have cameras are in public locations."

So they had cameras and trains but not cars or TV's? Sounded like Remnant's most boring vacation spot ever. "And here I was, thinking you were all a bunch of voyeurs." She grinned wider at his confused look. Maybe she could let him borrow a book from Blake? Though speaking of Blake, she hadn't seen the girl all day... It was worrying her a bit now. Now, that wasn't to say she blamed Jaune for her disappearance at all, really she didn't, but his lack of cultural know-how was certainly a part of the equation. And how many innocent social faux pas could he commit before he found himself in far deeper trouble? Yang didn't really think it'd be a good idea to find out after the fact.

"I assume that's not something good to be called?" Jaune twitched and snapped her back to the real world.

"Dunno, ask one of the professors if you can be their little voyeur!" Oh God, she hoped he asked professor Port, or better yet, Glynda! "Trust me, it'll be _eye opening_!"

He balked at the idea though and backed away from her maniacal laughter a few steps. "I'll just ask Ren..."

"You're gonna ask Ren if you can be his little voyeur!?" She had to find Blake right _now!_ The girl would kill her if she missed out on such a juicy situation just because of some hard words.

But he shut down her imaginative mind with a quick switch. "I think I'll leave the request out of my inquiry and just ask for a definition."

Such a shame too, Jaune was attractive and Ren was H.O.T.

Though any girl who wanted to _tussle_ with Ren would probably have to tussle with Nora first and the size of that Warhammer made even the usually forward and brave Yang think twice about flirting with the boy.

"Ah!" Jaune jumped closer to one of the buildings as _another_ set of cop cars past them by, this time a bit too close for Jaune's comfort. He glared at them as they sped down the street and if looks could kill... "What's wrong with those cars!? See, this is what I mean by unsafe!" Jaune jabbed a finger at one of the passing cars like a spear, the driver locking eyes with him for just a moment. Apparently the moment was long enough to make him decide a speeding ticket would be better than staying in the wrathful teen's line of sight.

But Yang really was starting to get a smidgen worried at where the hell were all those cops headed. She stretched her neck a bit, looking into the sky for any signs of smoke or some other signal for danger.

"I mean, the trains in Shiloh get people around just as fast and I don't think that-"

Yang ignored his rambling as she caught sight of a thin trail of smoke rising up into the air. It was in the general direction the cops looked like they had been heading in.

"-and what happens when people crash into each other? I can't see how these _police officers_ could ever stop-"

The smoke seemed far too small to warrant so many policemen and if it was really that bad, usually they would just call for some help from Beacon. So why did she feel so uneasy?

"-also easier to defend and protect from Grimm attacks. The railways are heavily armed with heavy turrets that actually travel on the underside railings, allowing the city to-"

They were stopped when an explosion rocked through the air, a massive bang sounding from far off, though Yang immediately knew where from. The plume of smoke expanded into a large cloud and in the distance she could hear the faint cracks of firearms going off. The two students of Beacon looked at each other for a moment and Jaune was the first to speak up.

"Can you contact Ozpin on your scroll?" He asked, nodding to her pocket.

Yang shook her head and took another glance at the rising black smoke. "No time! We need to hurry, people could be hurt!" She took off at a brisk pace, sprinting fast to the source of the explosion.

"Wait, shouldn't we-"

Yang was already gone though, swept up in the moment while Jaune himself sighed, palming his face before taking off after her.

* * *

When they finally arrived, Jaune knew instinctively it was bad.

"Oh my God..." Yang whispered next to him as they surveyed the scene.

And what a scene it was. Jaune grimaced as he took it all in.

Debris filled the asphalt lot surrounding a now burning warehouse; wooden crates, metal containers, and large machinery all twisted and charred from the explosion that had punctuated the area just moments ago. The warehouse itself looked like a gutted beast, its support beams like ribs just barely holding up the flesh of the decimated building. Jaune could hear the high pitched sound of metal grinding against itself as it slowly churned and turned from the weight and heat. The windows were all blown out and gone, the glass sprinkled around it like tiny razors.

Then there were the bodies.

Several of them were strewn around the raging inferno, charred stiff in their death throes -as short as they'd most likely been. Most were stuck in horribly grotesque poses; limbs twisted around or missing, lips boiled away with the mouths left wide open like caverns, and torsos collapsed inwards like used tin cans. A select few were still burning though, the flames licking at the remainders of their fatty flesh and blood. The stench rose up and assaulted his nose, filling it with the bitter scent of overcooked meat. He choked on a cough but refused to turn away from, instead walking forwards into the carnage. He felt his foot kick something and he looked down to see a leg, severed from its owner at the knee –Jaune gingerly pushed it aside. He heard Yang gag as she caught sight of it, though she pushed onwards, straightening her back as best she could. Admirable.

They went ignored from the authorities around them as they headed deeper into the carnage, most of them too busy nursing their own wounds or lamenting a comrade's.

"Ugh..." They whipped their heads towards the source of the sudden groan. Just a few feet away from them, leaning next to some busted crates, was a man, large and bulky, wearing what seemed to be a black suit. Well... More like the tattered remains of one.

Jaune quickly made his way to his side, gingerly taking note of his injuries. At first glance, Jaune had thought the man's face had been covered with black soot, but closer inspection showed him the gut wrenching truth.

The man's face had been burnt to a black crisp.

He had to swallow the bile rising up in his throat and slowly pulled his eyes downwards.

Yang gasped next to him and Jaune couldn't help but agree with her horrified look.

 _Oh God..._ He thought grimly as he viewed the extent of the damage done to the man.

His left arm was bent at a 90 degree angle backwards at the elbow and then back forwards in the middle of the forearm. Jaune doubted he could notice it though, especially since his other arm had been completely blown off; the crispy leftovers of vein, muscle, and skin fusing together into a macabre tourniquet. His suit was gone in the center, blown away to ash one could easily view the melted skin beneath. His chest rose and fell with guttural groans and Jaune shakily looked back to Yang.

"What happened here...?" Her horror evident with each word. She kneeled down next to him, gently hovering a hand over the man's chest, not actually touching the scorched skin.

"Aside from the warehouse exploding?" Jaune's lips stretched into a thin line and he massaged the bridge of his nose, doing his best to expel the smell from his nostrils. "I'd say a fight went down." He pointed at the various weapons lying around, most of them beyond repair but still very much recognizable. Guns lay about with large blades digging into the ground, handles missing on some, blades warped on others from the heat.

"Hah..." The man gasped out and his head turned this way and that.

Yang sniffed and rose back up, looking around desperately for anyone to help. "We need an ambulance now!" She roared, looking back down at the suffering man, hopelessness filling her eyes as he started shaking violently. Her fingers fumbled across the screen of her scroll, nearly dropping it twice while she frantically dialed some numbers in.

Jaune left her figure and went back to the man. He was lurching violently now, his gasps more ragged and staggered while his lungs tried their best to get oxygen in. _Not that it'll work,_ he thought morbidly to himself. Super-heated air could cook a pair of lungs like a steak in a single breath and by looking at state of his body, Jaune felt like it was less of a guess and more of a sad observation. He began to spasm, body contorting as much as it could with its wrecked musculature.

"He's gonna die Yang." He said neutrally, jabbing his thumb at the man while peering back at the girl who looked at him with wide eyes. She began speaking into the speaker of her scroll rapidly.

"We need someone _now_!" She nervously pulled on the hem of her skirt, her lips thinned in a grimace. "Don't worry, someone will be here for you soon!" Whatever she was hoping for, Jaune already knew it wouldn't reach the ears of its intended. After a quick inspection from the side, Jaune had found his ears to be closed shut in a mangle melded skin.

Jaune shook his head and put his hand on the man's chest, feeling the still hot flesh.

"Okay!" Yang got off her scroll and strode back to him, her lips forming a very forced smile. "They'll be here soon. Someone's on the way to help and-"

"I doubt they'll get here fast enough..."

She flared her nostrils and shook her head morbidly. "Don't say that, they'll be here-"

"No, you don't get it, they won't make it in time because-"

"They will! He-He just needs to hold out for!" She snapped at him fiercely. "Once they get here they can-they can help the guy! Take him to the hospital! They can-They can fix-"

"He's dead Yang." He stood up to show her the still body, corpse now, he supposed. Its head lolled to the side and the chest had ceased any movement. "Couldn't breathe, probably suffocated from lack of oxygen..."

"..." Was left with an open mouth, no words leaving her lips. They were there for a few moments, each second ticking by slowly. On one side of them, the flaring heat from the warehouse pounded relentlessly on them, a pathetic recreation of what these men had probably gone through, on the other the cold fall air wrapped around them, chilling them to the bone. "...oh..." She finally said.

Jaune felt a pang of sympathy rise up and he put a steady hand on the girl's shoulder. "Good job calling for help." He gently led her silent figure away from the body, taking her step by step away from it. Her head was the last to finally turn away from it, her eyes locked so firmly on the dead man it felt like she was trying to will the man back to life with nothing but her vision.

He heard sirens round the corner and enter the lot, a series of large vehicles parking around the warehouse haphazardly. An elongated, vibrantly red one spraying a large amount of ice dust at the warehouse, quelling the flames as several men and women came rushing out into the lot.

Several 'police officers' were running about, going from one end to the other as they desperately called out for assistance, crying for help that probably wouldn't come in time if Jaune was being honest.

"Hey! You two!" Jaune and Yang stopped when someone rushed up behind them and roughly grabbed Jaune by the shoulder, pulling him around. "Hold the scroll, you both need to come with me." He demanded, tongue razor sharp while he barked out his orders and roughly shoved the two of them into the direction he wanted them to go.

Not that it worked.

Aura made it nearly impossible for a regular person to hurt them let alone budge them over with a shove. So when the man tried, his hands bounced back and he nearly fell over himself, stumbling back a few steps and cursing loudly.

Yang stepped between the two, negating any further conflict while she explained in a quiet voice.

"We're from Beacon..." She said numbly, eyes closing as she ignored the rabble going on around them. "We... We came to help when we saw the explosion but..."

The officer's visage didn't calm immediately, but he did slowly remove his hand from his sidearm.

"Beacon huh?" He nodded and pulled out a particularly large scroll from his pocket, sliding his fingers across it while he addressed them. "Alright, can you tell me your identification numbers?" He asked, still a bit strict, but not nearly as before. Jaune and Yang recited their respective numbers easily, robotically ticking off each digit to the man who checked it on his larger-than-average scroll. He squinted a bit while he read through it before nodding to himself. "You two check out, but go take a seat somewhere, especially you." He pointed at Yang, giving her a slight sympathetic look. "Go get yourself some water kid."

Jaune wrapped an arm around Yang's shoulder and led her away to a bench a small ways away, sitting her down first before taking one next to her. Several people were rushing around now and watching it, Jaune couldn't help but compare it to his home.

He'd never even heard carnage like this happening _in_ the city. Maybe outside of it when a particularly nasty Grimm attack occurred and a whole scouting party was wiped out, but inside the city? Unheard of. He watched some women struggle to lift an officer off the floor, his screams echoing out as he pulled away from them. Jaune could barely see it, but it looked like the skin on his back had fused to the asphalt, gluing him to his position on the floor. A group of males a just a few meters away were busy inspecting the dead body he and Yang had found, flashes of light emanating from some boxes they held up. He couldn't imagine the suffering these people had gone through, the pain and horror they went through while the flames licked their skin up.

"We were too slow..." Yang mumbled next to him, head hanging low as she breathed slowly. "Too slow..."

Jaune patted her on the back, though she shied away from it. He left his hand awkwardly hanging in the air before slowly returning it back to his knee. "Yes... Yes we were." He admitted honestly.

"Ha... Isn't this where you're supposed to console me?" Yang chuckled darkly. Her eyes shut tight and her lips twisted back into a grief stricken expression.

"Would you prefer it if I were a liar?" He said more than asked. "I believe someone told me that it was a huntsman's job to protect the people around him, right?" He almost missed her nod, the nearly imperceptible movement of her head just barely catching his eye. "Well the huntsman failed the people here. So yes, we failed." Though really he hadn't failed anything at all. He wasn't a hunter and these people weren't really his people so he felt little responsibility regarding them, though Yang apparently did. "It bothers you quite a bit?" He gently asked.

She nodded and let out a sharp breath. "I... It does, I guess..." Jaune watched her raise her face towards the sky and place her hands behind her head. "I just didn't think... I dunno, I guess I wasn't really prepared for this."

"I doubt either of us expected this." He surmised with a weak smile.

Yang laughed quietly. "Really now? You're telling me this isn't your idea of a date?"

"Still don't know what that is." He rolled his eyes and leaned back into the bench, breathing slowly –though that might've been a bad idea with all the ash around them. "Why were you so focused on coming here in the first place?"

"Come here or...?"

"Both."

"Ah." Yang nodded thoughtfully and bit her lip, sinking into thought. "I guess I came _here-_ " she pointed to the ground with a single finger one time, "-because that's just what huntresses are supposed to do, isn't it?"

Jaune laughed. "I don't think you should ask me of all people."

"Maybe," her hands clenched the hem of her skirt, "but honestly, sometimes I think I don't know much more than you. I just know huntresses are supposed to always help people. Something like that at least..." She murmured tepidly.

Jaune couldn't hear her muttering, only catching small glimpses regarding mothers and children. "You chose to become a huntress without knowing what the job entailed?" He deadpanned.

"No." She rolled her eyes at him and huffed. "I... I knew about the adventure I guess."

"The...adventure?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I don't know if you can tell Jaune," her thumb pointed right at her bosom, "but I'm nothing like you. I don't like strict or stern. I'm kind of a free person, ya' know?"

"I can imagine." Reminded him of his eldest sister to be perfectly fair. "So you became a huntress for the fun of it?" He quickly stuck on a quick amendment at her withering glare. "I'm not saying that's bad!"

"Hah, not many ways you could make it sound good..." She groaned, looking grimly forwards as more and more people gathered to clean up the horrible mess. "But yes Jaune, it was one of the bigger reasons, though the biggest one I'd rather not talk about." Her fingers came up to brush some strands of hair out of the way, gently pushing the soft locks to the side as she peered at him. "What about you?"

His eyes widened a bit in surprise, caught off guard by the inquiry. "Me?"

"Why're you at Beacon?"

"Forced by Ozpin." He answered honestly. There wasn't much Yang could do with that sort of knowledge and he doubted she would actually do anything with it to begin with, she didn't seem like the type.

"Forced? Huh..." She hummed to herself in confusion but seemed to just let it go, smoothly moving onto a different line. "So then why come to Vale, I don't think I've heard why you're here." A small laugh left her lips as she spoke. "Like you said, I wanna know the _why,_ not the what."

"Can't say." Yang looked at him with exaggerated disapproval, huffing loudly and positioning her hands in quite the Weiss-esque stance. "It's really something I should keep a bit private till I have some more chats with Ozpin and your Council." He explained, easing her with some steady hand motions.

"Fine~" She stood up, cracking her neck and apparently feeling a bit better. "You have reasons you'd rather not talk about and so do I, not sweat off my back." Yang quite sarcastically dusted off her shoulders with flair before addressing him again. "Heads up, seems like we've got more company."

Jaune looked forwards, rising up to her side and watching the officer from before approach them again. He squared up to them best he could, his chest expanding as he took a deep breath and straightened up, though all it accomplished was making him look a bit ridiculous and unconfident.

"You're the two students from Beacon right?" He started, crossing his arms and staring them down hard.

Yang and Jaune glanced at each other, suspicious and on guard from the tone. Yang answered first in her typical style. "Nothing's changed from a couple minutes ago, so yeah, I reckon we are?" She rolled out with a lazy smile.

The officer didn't see the humor.

"Yes, well..." He muttered, dipping his head and shaking it, clearly annoyed. "Look, I was wondering if you could contact any hunter staff from the school?" He requested in possibly the most unconvincing way possibly. The officer wouldn't even look at them while he asked, his lips churning into a deep frown as he explained his request. "It uh... It turns out Roman Torchwick was involved with this little... _situation_." He gestured to the now extinguished warehouse and cloth covered bodies.

"Roman Torchwick?" Yang repeated. "Isn't that the guy you fought with my sister?" She asked Jaune, elbowing him slightly to jog his memory.

Jaune frowned and chewed on his lip for a moment. "I believe so? Not exactly the most pressing memory I have but I'm pretty sure...?" He wasn't sure at all.

"Look, can you just contact a hunter from the school?" He interjected impatiently with a scowl.

"Why not put in an official request?" Yang recommended. Jaune found it humorous she was the one recommending the _strict and stern_ approach.

"We'd like to keep this a bit quiet..." He whispered roughly, leaning down and looking for any stray listeners. "Can you just do it...? Please?" He added when she shot him a very unimpressed look.

Yang held her stare for a few seconds, letting a nice sheen of sweat build along the man's forehead before she pulled out her scroll. "Look, I don't have any of the teachers specifically on call, but I have someone who can contact them in my stead."

"Good enough, please just hurry." He pleaded, this time looking her dead in the eye as he edged her along.

"Exactly what's going on?" Jaune pulled the man to the side to leave Yang with her call. He decided using the moment to get some extra information would probably be best, after all, if he was already here helping out wouldn't do much harm.

"Like I said, I'd rather this stay-" Jaune leveled him with a heavy glare, pressuring him powerfully. The officer pulled on his collar and grimaced while he stuttered. "It-It's not really something that I-uh-that I can t-talk about..." He finished lamely.

"Hm?" Jaune glowered at him and turned his glare more than few notches colder.

The man just shook his head and cursed under his breath. "Okay, just look –and quit it with the glaring" he pleaded a bit weakly. "The-The building that just burned down was being used by Roman Torchwick as some...supply depot or something. I dunno exactly but it was filled to the brim with fucking dust apparently." He pointed at the burned down building. "We had an insider who gave us the lead so we decided to take action-"

"Without a hunter." Jaune finished for him and sighed, planting his palm over his face in disappointment. "I thought you said you needed a hunter because this Torchwick was involved, so why engage when you knew he was, well, involved?"

"It's a complicated thing!" The officer defended. "Look, can you just get the damn hunter here already!? We're on a tight timetable here." He shoved past Jaune and approached Yang, who nodded to him as he came closer. She gestured for him to take her scroll.

"I just called Blake and she told professor Goodwitch, prof wants a _chat_ by the way." Yang chirped, passing the scroll along like it was covered in toxin, gingerly backing away. "Heads up, she's apparently unhappy."

"Ugh..."

"So you find out any information there?" Yang asked Jaune, watching with bemusement as she watched the officer back away from her scroll, tenderly rubbing an ear as Glynda no doubt let loose a river of pure wrath.

"Turns out they knew Torchwick was always involved."

"And they still decided to forego any hunter help?"

"Don't ask me, he wouldn't explain it when I asked." Jaune put up an exasperated hand. "Anything on your side?"

"Nope!" She concurred. "Aside from prof being pissed as all hell, I know about as much as you."

Jaune seemed a bit disappointed but he understood they weren't omniscient. Though the person she'd contacted first... "You called Blake?" He asked genuinely.

"Yeah, I thought about Ruby at first but..."

"You didn't want her getting involved." Jaune finished for her, receiving a nod of appreciation from the girl. "Understandable, have you talked with Blake yet about her supposed _issue_?" He still didn't see where the issue even came from, being a faunus of all things leading to such strong emotions.

Yang shook her head in dismay. "Not yet, I need to soon though. I don't think she's taking it that well right now..."

 _Quite the understatement._ Jaune said to himself privately. "Seems like he's done with his call." He quickly pointed out, not able to hold his smile back as the man gently nursed his now sore ear.

"Thanks for the call..."

Jaune had never heard such a begrudging 'thank you' before in his life.

"Hm? What was that Blake?" Yang said into the receiver of her scroll. "Wait, what?"

"You don't seem to do your job very well." Jaune pointed out to the officer with a locked smile.

"Oh? And according to who, you?" He shot back derisively.

"No, that sounds like a bad idea, and besides we need to have a chat!" Yang placed a hand on the back of her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Yeah we do! I just want to clarify some stuff!"

"When a completely ignorant foreigner can tell you're not doing your job well enough, it should be quite telling."

"Ignorant is the key word, right?"

"What do you mean you need to go?" Yang coughed out.

"No, it's foreigner, actually."

"Which is quite clear by the-"

"Jaune!" Yang interrupted with a scandalized look, quickly grabbing his arm and pulling him. "We're gotta go now, so leave your new boyfriend and c'mon."

"Now that's just wrong!"

"Wait what?" Jaune stumbled, ignoring the protesting policeman. "What's going on?"

"It's Blake." She sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. "I told her we needed to talk but apparently she's got something she needs to do. Hung up on me without so much as a goodbye."

"Something to do?" Jaune already knew... "Let me guess, does it have something to do with this Torchwick?"

"Probably." Yang nodded solemnly. "Now look, you can head back to Beacon –I know you're busy- but I need to go look for my kitty cat."

"I've plenty of time, besides, you've dragged me this far haven't you?" He rolled his neck, producing a nice set of cracks. "What's a little longer?"

"Great! Then we need to head out!"

"You know where to go?" He started, not wanting to go off on a wild chase to nowhere.

"No, but I've got a lead." She offered with a tight grin.

Jaune nodded and responded lightly. "Oh, then perhaps you can _lead_ the way?"

"Oh hoh Jauney boy..." Yang wiggled an eyebrow in glee. "Nice attempt but you have no idea _Xiao-Long_ you have to go."

He groaned and immediately regretted his choice of words.

* * *

 **A/N: Phewwwww! Finally here! I know this is probably heading in a direction many of you might not like, which is perfectly fine! I want to experiment more and more so I get a better idea of how to write my stories and feedback is important. So if you have something you were confused by or didn't like in general, please let me know in a review or pm!**

 **Next Chapter: February 25th**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Another day, another chapter. Whew! This one was a tad longer than the last, which can be good or bad depending on your point of view. I'm not too sure how this one will be taken though...**

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Chapter 8

* * *

The midday sun pounded down on the two of them as they traversed the city, searching for Yang's missing partner.

Jaune squinted and stuck out his palm flat into the air in front of him, counting the hours left before sunset. His meeting with Oobleck was coming up fast and he had no plans on being late, so he resolved himself help solve the Blake-issue post haste.

"So do you actually have a lead or should I assume you just lied to me?" He asked, a bit irate as she led him down another street.

She turned towards him and rolled her eyes, saying in an exasperated voice. "A little trust would go a long way you know." Yang shot him a toothy grin before coming to a stop, pointing to a massive building with dimmed lights and blackened windows.

Jaune cocked his head in confusion at the sight, the building seemed closed by every metric but Yang tirelessly pulled him along. "So is this where Blake will be?" Jaune asked, carefully eyeing the large men surrounding the building who were now whispering amongst themselves as they closed the gap.

"Nope!" Yang shook her head. "But I know someone who can help us find where she'll be next." She pushed up to the guards and Jaune could see how nervous they were, most of them stepping back as she stepped forwards, one was frantically talking into his scroll like his life depended on it. "Say Jaune..." Her grin turned positively vicious. "What do you know about clubs?" She asked him while she squared up to one of the men.

"Lo-Look," the man squeaked, "we're not even open yet so you'll have ta-"

Yang clicked her tongue at him while shaking her head. "I'm not here to party, it's not even sundown yet genius." Jaune watched the man's face grow paler by the second and he couldn't help but wonder what the hell Yang had done to receive such dreadful expression. "The two of us need to talk to Junior." She cracked her knuckles intimidatingly and Jaune looked at her with surprise.

 _Is she threatening them!?_ He choked back a surprised cough and looked at her with wide eyes. Could she _do_ that? Were all hunters allowed to do that? He thought hunters were supposed to only deal with Grimm threats, did they also deal with more common folk as well? He cringed suddenly when the door behind the sweating man swung open with a sharp noise.

"Alright, just let 'er in already. It's not worth the fight, trust me." The new man addressed them with an agitated expression, his lips curling in displeasure as he let them into his building.

Jaune looked to Yang and whispered to her silently. "How do you know these people?" He asked.

"Junior makes for good conversation," she chuckled to him, ignoring the man's heavy glare.

" _Conversation_... Quick question, do you know how much in equipment you destroyed?" Junior asked in a scathing tone. "I thought not." He sighed at Yang's raised brow and smirk. "Alright, take a seat." He said, approaching a simple table surrounded by couches, he plopped himself down and the two of them took their place directly across from him. He snapped his fingers over at some bartender three times in quick succession, some form of non-verbal communication since not a moment later did he bring over three shot glasses and a bottle of mystery liquid.

"Oh? Free drinks as well?" Yang raised an eyebrow and reached for one of the filled shot glasses, eyeing it cautiously.

"Are you declining the offer?" He shot back, downing a glass in one swig before swinging his eyes over to Jaune and gesturing for him to take his own.

Jaune sighed and grabbed the small cup, sniffing it and making certain that yes, it was indeed alcohol –strong alcohol to boot. He looked at Yang who only replied with an easy going grin, tipping the glass to her lips. He could only sigh and do the same. Luckily Templar were allowed to drink in moderation, though not during their watch hours of course, so Jaune was no stranger to the foul tasting drink and could tell the stuff was _strong_.

He coughed and slapped his chest as it seared down his throat, eyes widening at the sudden heat it came with.

"Puah!" Yang smacked her lips and poured herself another glass, holding no such reservations. "Not half bad, what is this stuff?"

Junior shook his head at her. "It's Mistralean Fire Water but cut to the chase Xiao-Long," He asked stiffly. "I want you _out_ before we open up tonight."

Looking around, Jaune could imagine why. Some of the furniture looked gleaming, far too much for such a seedy looking joint, telling him they were probably new additions. Looking up at the ceiling, Jaune could see several light fixtures that had been completely blown away, torn from the ceiling with such rending force. Then there were the support pillars holding the ceiling itself up in the first place.

One had been completely blown away and another bent inwards like boomerang.

Apparently Yang's conversations weren't the nicest sort, which only added to his apprehension.

"Alright fine then," she waved nonchalantly, "most men would appreciate having such a beautiful girl around though, I'm just saying."

"Hm..." Junior groaned, wincing a tad when she threw him a strong glare.

"So, long story short-"

"But you didn't even start with a story to begin with?" Jaune muttered to himself.

"-you know a guy named Roman Torchwick?"

"Torchwick?" Junior chewed on the distasteful word with a pained expression. "Now what the hell does a kid like you want with him?"

"Doesn't matter, I just need to know where he is or where he's planning to be."

"Look, I aint the type to give out advice, but you really ought to stay outta that guy's way kid." Junior warned, taking another deep gulp of alcohol.

"And I'd advise you to stick to your habits." Yang shot back, shrugging her shoulders exaggeratedly. "So you do know though." Her words were confident, or at least they were more confident that Jaune felt.

Jaune couldn't help but watch the exchange in silent curiosity, taking in their colorful tone.

"Look, I... Nothing I've got's concrete." Junior raised his hands and backed onto the couch. Jaune couldn't help but notice he seemed genuinely afraid of riling up Yang. "This is what I do know though," he hastily amended when Yang set her shot glass down and crossed her arms across her chest. "Torchwick's looking to ramp up...uh... _acquisitions_ we'll call it, soon."

"What does that even mean?" Jaune honestly asked.

"Torchwick plans on robbing more places, more quickly." Yang summarized for him in a curious voice, her nose scrunching up as she placed a finger on her chin. "What about locations? You have anything more...concrete than that?"

Junior pulled on his collar and clicked his tongue at her. "Look kid, even if I knew I couldn-"

"So that means you do know." Yang rolled her eyes and lazily stood up, stretching her arms in front of her, then behind. "Where's it gonna be?"

He bit his lip and slowly rose up himself, only to be stopped when Yang stepped forwards, her teeth flashing as she grinned at him. Or was that a snarl? Jaune couldn't tell from his angle. "Lo-Look Xiao-Long, I can't just tell you-"

"Yes you can." She corrected. "And trust me, you're gonna want to as well." Her hand clenched into a fist and she rested it upon her knee.

"If Roman were to find out-" he squeaked until Yang silenced him a quick relocation of her fist into the couch cushion behind him. He cursed under his breath and shook in his seat.

"Which he won't, unless-"

"That's enough Yang." Jaune grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her off of the terrified man. Her mouth of left open in surprise as he sternly tightened his grip.

"Woah, what?" She asked with a colored expression. "What do you mean that's enough, he hasn't even told us where-"

"He's about to piss himself in fear." Jaune gave the man a pitying look which didn't go appreciated. Addressing Yang again though, Jaune refused to budge, standing rock solid and refusing to allow her passage to the man.

"Yeah, all the better." She squinted at him, now seeing him in perhaps another light. "If you're thinking he's a nice guy-"

"I'm not." He blandly said. "But there's no possible way you have the authority to treat a civilian like this." She was a _student_ at Beacon for heaven's sake! Sure, Shiloh was very different from Vale, but he doubted that the government just allowed their super powered students to run around and act as authority figures while they lacked the proper education. He may not have known their customs, but he wasn't stupid enough to believe something that ridiculous.

"Civilian!?" Yang sputtered with a laugh. "Junior is a criminal Jaune, not some innocent guy." She pointed at said 'criminal' with finger.

"So exactly what criminal actions has he partaken in thus far?" Jaune honestly asked. "So far he's allowed us entry, given us beverages," he winced a bit as he was reminded of the foul liquid, "and informed us about potential crimes happening in the future." He ticked each one off with a finger. "Where's the illegality here?" It was too chaotic to think like that. Sure, in Shiloh the punishments were far more extreme, but civilians were judged only _after_ they'd committed a crime. To do before... Preemptive punishment had been attempted before, his history books were quite clear on that, and the results had _never_ turned out well.

Punishment without reason only promoted fear, and fear begot only one thing.

The Grimm.

"I don't see where the issue is coming from." Yang said incredulously. "All we need is to get him to tell us where Roman will be and then we can be on our way."

"By threatening him and possibly beating him?"

"Eh, maybe." She answered easily with a shrug.

Jaune looked aghast at the idea. Yang honestly thought she could just beat up random civilians and get away with it? Vale just... Vale just let that kind of thing slide!? He glanced back towards Junior who sat statue still and looked at him with a dreadfully worried expression. So the last time Yang had come here, she had...

 _Ah... Well that's not good._ Jaune let a disgusted look climb onto his face as the facts fell into position. Yang had come here last time and picked a fight with Junior, probably for some other random fact or piece of information. After not getting what she wanted, instead of thinking about maybe going to the authorities or pressing the issue with her words, she started throwing fists.

Her aura infused fists.

At civilians.

Jaune balked at the thought and turned deathly pale.

"You... You're allowed to fight civilians!?" He coughed out in disbelief.

Yang nodded, noticeably uncomfortable now. "Well... Yeah, I mean, if they start it-"

" _IF THEY START IT_!?" Jaune was taken aback with shock filling his heart. "Aren't you a hunter in training? I thought hunters were meant to protect the people?"

"Ye-Yeah?" Yang stuttered out in reply to his outburst. "But guys like Junior-"

"Aren't considered people to protect?"

"What? No!" Yang crossed her arms in front of her like an 'X' and her eyes narrowed.

"But you would beat him up?" Jaune clarified with an unimpressed look.

A tired voice sounded from behind him. "She already did that once..." Junior said and Jaune couldn't help but feel disappointment at the affirmation.

"Yang, you beat up a civilian?" Oh god, what the hell was wrong with this girl...

"He was asking for it?" She came off as so genuine that Jaune had to do a double take on the statement, making sure it indeed meant what it had meant.

"You can't just beat up civilians Yang!" Okay, truth be told, he didn't know if she legally could or could not, but common sense ruled the day and he just could not see a situation where someone who was vastly stronger, faster, and better trained would be allowed to rampage freely without any restraint.

"I don't _'just beat up civilians'_ Jaune!" She mimicked. "It's not like I go around picking fights-"

"I'm pretty sure you're the one who started the fight last time you came here..." Junior bemoaned.

"And you need to stow it!" Yang snapped at him.

"Oh for the love of..." Jaune sighed. "Look Yang, I don't know whether or not you're actually allowed to pull this kind of thing off and get away with it, but I know that _I_ can't." Jaune said firmly to her.

"Okay then, move aside for a while and let me work my magic and you'll be completely absolved of sin." Yang requested while trying to push on by to Junior.

"That would just be abetting." Jaune stated, refusing to budge the slightest amount.

"I don't know what that word means." Yang growled at him.

"It means that unless you're willing to just sit down and talk the information out of Junior here, I'm not moving."

"Jaune..." Yang warned with a small fire coming to life behind her lilac eyes.

"Not an inch Xiao-Long." They were both weaponless but just one glance at her fighting style made it clear who had to upper hand.

"If I tell you where Roman plans on being, will it get the two of you the fuck out?" Junior suddenly piped up from behind them, beckoning both their attentions. He nervously waved for the two of them to sit back down, cautiously inspecting their surroundings. "Look, opening time is coming up in a couple of hours and I _don't_ want either of you anywhere near the premises on our little reopening. So I'll tell you on just _one_ condition."

"I don't do-"

"What is it?" Jaune immediately interrupted Yang in a cooperative tone, earning a fierce glare from the girl.

"Okay just follow me on this," Junior nodded at the two of them, "if Roman finds out that I was the one who leaked his plans to two _hunters_ ," he pointed a finger at the two of them and Jaune quickly interjected with a correction.

"Students."

"Students, sure!" Junior guffawed at him before stifling his voice. "Students of hunters or hunters themselves, Roman will see it as the same. Either way, my head's on a platter, literally. I don't know if you two have heard, but Roman, or whoever Roman works with, has been offing schmucks left, right, and center for the smallest of infractions. A blue who was in deep recently blabbed to his buddies about one of Roman's little storehouses, I hear his _contract termination_ was explosive." Jaune and Yang shared a dawning look at his words. "So I _need_ the two of you to keep it on the low that you heard it from me." He requested quietly, shrinking into the seat. Though his massive frame didn't really allow it. "If Roman catches even the slightest wind..." He put a finger up to his neck and slowly dragged it across, lips curling as he finished the action slowly and methodically.

"I don't know what that means..." Jaune looked to Yang for some clarification and the girl just sighed.

"He's just asking us to keep quiet about where we got this info otherwise Roman will kill him."

"So why don't the police just arrest him if he's such an obviously dangerous criminal?" He cringed.

"Hard to catch the rat in such a large city." Junior explained. "Worse still, Roman's got friends everywhere he needs 'em; from down Cutman's Alley all the way up to the City-fucking-Council he's got men on call to bail him or warn him."

"Crime is _that_ deep seeded here?" Jaune gasped, while he might not have known what a 'Cutman's Alley' was, he could understand the notion.

"So we got a deal?" Junior stuck out his hand towards Jaune surprisingly. "I'd rather shake yours than firecracker over there." He explained with a grin.

" _Firecracker_ over here is about to blow your ass through the wall again if you call her that more than once." Yang snorted.

Jaune gripped his hand, fingers wrapping securely around it. He nodded once in understanding and did as he always did; vibrating his hand rapidly before letting go.

Junior stared dumbly at his hand after the matter and looked back at Jaune with a quizzical expression. "Well okay then... Roman's gonna be going silent for a while, maybe some small hits here and there, but he won't be making any big plays for a bit." Junior leaned in and lowered his voice to a hiss. "No... I hear he's got something huge cooking in the pot right now and he's waiting for _that_ to blow." The two of them put out there ears to hear better as Junior spoke in hushed whispers. "Now, what do the two of you know about SDC Shipping?"

The two of them shook their heads, neither one having much clue. One because she didn't have any reason and the other since he hadn't even heard of it before.

"They ship stuff?" Jaune guessed.

"Yeah, _stuff_." Junior mirrored. "Well let me introduce the two of you to the _magnitude_ of Roman's latest scheme. Either of you know how big a freighter is?"

"Big?"

"No."

Junior chuckled quietly and nodded the two of them closer.

"Well, it's pretty damn big I'd say."

* * *

Click.

Fwoosh.

"The freighters dock in just a couple of weeks at the Port of Vale." Roman said sternly, spreading his hands across the desk he and two of his higher authority henchmen were gathered around. He pointed to the large waterfront section of Vale and tapped it rhythmically. "Assuming good weather and no Grimm attacks, we're looking at a locked schedule."

"So that's when we'll hit it?" One of his loyal henchmen asked in a level tone.

Roman bristled though, annoyed by the lack of foresight. "No." He snapped.

His henchman recoiled a tad, straightening up in rigid fear as he squeaked out involuntarily. "N-No?"

"No." Roman sighed, dragging one hand to his face and puffing on his cigar. Really... One would hope that after years of working with a criminal mastermind of his reputation and suave skill they would have learned a thing or two. Maybe even picked up on a few key characteristics to meld to themselves. Perhaps gleamed some knowledge if they were lucky. No though, apparently he was forever damned to be stuck surrounded by blithering dolts. "That's too obvious! You really think they won't have security for a shipment like _this_?" He incredulously brought up a stack of papers, each sheet filled with tiny lines of information detailing the dust onboard the vessel. Every containers contents, down to the tiniest dust particulate was recorded in these pages and Roman had read through it all in just a few days.

Needless to say, the shipment was huge.

"Oh, um... Sorry boss..." The goon –he had earned that demotion in the mind of Roman Torchwick- apologized but Roman ignored him, already weighing where his punishment would lie.

"Sorry he says..." Roman muttered, disgruntled. "A dry bulk carrier of this size takes, at the very least, three days to unload."

"That seems fast..." The mentally appointed goon's voice piped up, grimacing at the time constraint. Roman came in once again to save the day however.

"Seems fast because it _is_ fast." Roman removed his cigar for a moment as he spoke. "A shipment like this isn't going to get unloaded like that. Other dry bulk containers can get thrown off like a used hooker, but dust shipments like these are special. Most dust shipments might get treated like regular dry bulk, but not this one. No no no." He puffed and let a cloud of smoke lazily drip from between his lips. "A shipment this large and specific... Every single container's gonna go through rigorous checks before it can be offloaded. We're talking the whole shebang. From simple things like container integrity to dust purity measured down to the gram, every single container that gets unloaded will be getting checked by professionals from both sides, buyer and seller."

"So the SDC and...?" A well-dressed woman to his left asked, shaking her head as she picked up some sheets and trolled through them for an answer. Her slender finger came to rest on her chin and her brow furrowed as the answer eluded her.

Roman ended her musings by snatching the papers out of her hand with a grunt. "According to this," he flipped through to a memorized page and cleared his throat to read it properly, "the Council of Vale shall elect ten teams made up of ten professional dust purity examiners along with an additional overseer whom shall write a report upon the complete inspection of each container. Each report shall be sent posthaste to the Council of Vale's main office addressed at blah blah blah." Roman rolled his eyes and skipped the inane script that made up most legalese, opting instead to just get to the point. "Main point is that the SDC and the Council are required to check every single container for defects and purity irregularities before it can be unloaded."

"Where the hell is all this shit going to?" She piped up, curious at where the massive supply could be heading.

Roman hated curious individuals and this was no different, already demoting the girl in his eyes as he responded with an annoyed huff. "Are you daft? What's happening soon that happens every two years or so?"

"The Atlesian Brewery Exhibition?" Goon-Girl guessed with a quirky look.

"The Vacuan Belly Dancer Competition?" Goon-Boy said with a lazy smirk.

"Oh for the love of..." Roman sighed before slamming a hand onto the table, producing a very audible bang. "THE VYTAL FESTIVAL YOU IDIOTS!" They shuffled awkwardly as Roman's tongue turned into fire. "Do any of you know how to pay attention or am I just entertaining imbeciles? I thought I chose you all for upper administration in this organization for your skills and abilities! What happened to those? Was I, the great Roman Torchwick, _wrong_ in my assessment!?"

"N-No sir!" They chorused out as one, standing straighter and more rigid while their boss bit into them with seething anger.

"Then at least _try_ following along, for your sake." He hissed, snapping his fingers once, then twice, and finally three times before the air next to him shattered and a girl with vibrant, multi-colored hair appeared. "Neo, stay on call!" He barked out with a snarl. "Depending on how this little meeting goes, I might need you to play the role of _disposer_." There was no question in the air as to what exactly he would be disposing of.

Probably what he labeled as _unnecessary liabilities_.

The menacing visage of a woman too short and too cute to look the role happily nodded and planted herself on Roman's personal table, watching the gathered individuals with a keen eye.

"Al-Alright boss man, so exactly _when_ should we be hitting the shipment then?" The Goon-Boy asked, nervously swallowing some saliva in the process.

"It won't be easy," he admitted with a sigh, "we can't go in right after they dock, too much security and there's no point in waiting either since every container is carted away the moment it passes inspection." He trailed a finger down a winding path on the map laid out before them. "We can't sneak the containers directly off the ship either for obvious reasons." He paused to give Neo a very distinct nod, just daring someone to ask what those 'obvious reasons' were. "So that leaves us with only one option. Any guesses?" This time, Roman opened up his arms and mind –along with a meager level of mercy so that he wouldn't kill one of them for suggesting a bad idea.

"Wait for nightfall when security is more lax?" The Goon-Boy suggested.

Roman shook his head though. "Security won't be any more lax at night than it is in the daytime." Seriously... Why the hell would he think that? In what world would the SDC and the Council relax the amount of guards on call for such a massive shipment just because the sun happened to be out of place? If anything, they'd probably _increase_ security to counter the lack of natural lighting.

Goon-Girl sounded next with an idea. Roman could only hope it wouldn't burst a blood vessel via stupidity. "Maybe we can bribe some of the officials to _miss_ a few shipments?"

Roman removed his cigar and whistled a high tune, genuinely impressed with the okay-ish answer. "Not bad, but the objective is that we pay as little as possible for the dust in the first place. And nothing..." He waited for them to finish the saying.

"Beats free." The two of them parroted with a nod.

Roman nodded with a condescending smirk. "Moreover, there may be plenty of corrupt officials, but none are stupid enough to take a bribe to misplace _all_ of the dust on that shipment." Career suicide would be one way of saying it.

Public lynching would be more accurate though.

"So we can't do anything then? How do we steal something that's so heavily guarded and can't be bribed for?" Untrusting-Goon-Boy groaned and Torchwick made the mental note to give him over to Neo after the operation was over. He had a large organization, he was sure to find someone to replace him.

But for now, Roman's lips parted into a large smile and he grabbed his two associates by the shoulders, shaking them congenially. "Oh ye of little faith..." Roman cracked his neck in a rolling motion, his cigar bouncing between his lips with every syllable. "You should know by now, I've always got a plan."

"S-So what is it?" Goon-Girl asked nervously, obviously uncomfortable being stuck so close to a man who could literally just jerk his arm a little too fast and pop her head off like a cherry from its stem.

"Well it's obvious isn't it?" Roman said with a dark chuckle. "Security's tight huh... Well, when something's too tight, there's only one thing left to do." His grin grew vicious. "You gotta loosen it. Now, I'm trusting the two of you to acquire me some tools we'll need to make this work."

"Tools?"

He ushered them out the door and pushed them forwards, beckoning them towards the outside world and on their way. "Yeah, parts of a puzzle if that's your fancy, either way, find me some traffic light engineers, that's where we'll start."

"Traffic light engineers?"

"Yeah," Roman chirped, happy as can be. "Let's just say congestion's a bitch."

The door shut with a heavy gong.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" Jaune asked Yang as they walked out from the large club. He was still leery at the girl, and the two of them could feel the remaining tension drawing on both of them, though it seemed that either neither one wanted to address it or neither one cared to.

Yang brought out her scroll and shot him a smirk, though it seemed a tad forced. "Just watch this Jauney boy." She dialed something in and brought it up to her face, hesitating for a moment before deciding to pull Jaune in as well with a friendly -if a bit cautious- hug around the shoulders.

"So wha-"

"Yang, I'm busy right now. What do you want?" Blake's tired voice suddenly crackled to life through the tiny screen along with an image of the irate girl. Her hair was standing in strange spots and grime speckled her usually pale and clean skin.

"Mmm, well we just wanted to call you!" Yang happily sang. "See how you're doing, whether your busy or not~!"

Jaune shot her a confused look. Weren't they going to tell Blake they knew where Torchwick was? He thought that had been the entire point of this little expedition and outing, so they could lure Blake back to the school where her team could properly discuss and sort things out. "Hey, we found Ro-Ugh!"

Yang silenced him with an elbow and a charming smile.

Jaune shot back with a withering look and a frown.

"Look Yang, I'm busy right now and-and I don't think you'll be seeing me for a while..." Blake said in a downcast voice, but Yang barreled on through.

"No, I think we'll be seeing each other soon actually. In fact, we'll see each other tonight." Yang informed her matter-of-factly. "Since you know, you'll be coming back to the dorm room and everything by eight."

Blake sighed at her and shook her head. "I'm not coming back to the dorm Yang... I-I don't think..." She paused with her words for a moment, sadness covering her expression before she forced her way through it. "I don't think I'll be coming back to Beacon at all in fact..."

"Oh? Why's that? Me and Jaune here were really looking forwards to seeing you again, right Jaune?"

The look she gave him let him know there was only one answer he could give. "...Yes?"

"See! So we'll be-"

"Yang, this is serious! I'm not heading back!" Blake insisted in a harsh tone. "I-I can't just go back."

Yang gave her a very unimpressed look and placed her hand onto her hip. "Why?" Cause you're a faunus?" She rolled her eyes and sighed audibly and dramatically.

"No!" Blake said, her voice hitting the speaker like a brick while she held it with an angrily shaking hand. "For one I lied to you all!"

"It's literally been less than a week?" Yang threw out her explanation with ease and little care.

"You... Weiss Schnee is on our team!"

"And when did you figure out she hates faunus?" Yang said in a mockingly surprised voice.

Blake bristled and chuckled darkly. "She's a Schnee... Schnee's have bad blood with faunus if you couldn't tell."

Apparently Yang could since she nodded along despite her defiant look.

Jaune couldn't though.

"Why?" He asked curiously, cocking his head to one side. "Why would Schnee's have bad blood with faunus?"

"Why?" Blake snorted in derision. "Do you _know_ about the White Fang?"

"No." He answered dully.

"They're a...well, they're a..." Blake stumbled over her words as she searched for the right ones to use. Jaune waited patiently for a description since at the moment everything was just flying high over his head at the moment.

"They're a faunus rights activist group that's recently gone a bit rogue." Yang said with a wince. "I dunno what they used to be exactly, but I know that they aren't the kindest group out there anymore..."

Blake sighed and nodded at the explanation. "Exactly Jaune. The White Fang have a history of... killing Schnee's." She said it with such distaste that Jaune could nearly smell the disgust lingering on her lips. "Usually in disturbing and unseemly ways."

"Okay... well that makes a little more sense-Oof!" Jaune felt Yang elbow him again and he glared at the girl. "What? It's true!"

"See Yang, even he gets it and he's not even from the same nation." Blake said in a defeated tone. "I can't go back."

"That's still wrong though." Jaune interjected before Yang could get a word in edgewise, looking to correct his earlier statements. "When I said it made a little more sense I didn't mean it made much sense at all, just a tad more than before." He couldn't understand a lot of things, that was true, but he understood where Blake was coming from. The idea Weiss Schnee would hold a grudge against the denomination of people who were distantly related to the group that hurt her family wasn't unthinkable, but it seemed... Well it seemed a bit strange to him. The White Fang were a group all on their own it seemed and as long as Blake didn't have any connections to them, then why would Weiss hold any grudges? "You need to give Weiss a chance first, after all, don't you want people to give you the same opportunity?" He continued his urging at Blake's annoyed and reluctant expression. "How can you expect anyone to give you a chance if you won't let the opportunity arise in the first place? Yang clearly wants to give it a shot, don't you think she deserves that chance?" He gestured to the girl beside him who looked at Blake with a pleading expression. "What you're doing right now won't help anyone. Yang will be left partner-less and Weiss might not ever get the chance to judge you for more than your physical features. Are you okay with that?" Jaune looked at her with stone eyes that sunk into her.

She remained silent for several moments, refusing to meet their eyes while she deliberated. Jaune stole a glance at the clock that flashed near the top of the scroll's screen. It was six now, so he didn't have much time left to spend before his meeting with Oobleck came around. He mentally urged Blake to make a decision, hopefully the right one.

"Fine..." She finally relented with a deep and slow sigh. Her other hand came up and she dragged its palm across her face before shaking it back and forth quickly in an effort to clear her mind. "I'll... I'll come back tonight to talk, but it's going to be tough, I have some... business to finish out here as-"

"Are you looking for a guy named Torchwick?" Yang deadpanned.

The feline faunus' eyes widened in surprise for just a second before she settled herself down again. The emotion lasted for such a short period of time Jaune had wondered to himself if he had actually even seen it to begin with. "What makes you say that?" She said coolly.

"Because you ran off practically the moment you heard me tell you Roman Torchwick was up to some weird plots?" Yang's hand came up perpendicular to her face while she answered.

"But why would I be after Roman? He has nothing to do with the faunus!" She tried to explain but Yang didn't look very impressed.

"Yeah, guess you'll have to explain that to me when we meet tonight."

"Ugh..." Blake scowled –Jaune would say petulantly if he were the one describing her, but he kept the comment to himself. "Fine, I'll... I'll meet you guys at the dorm by eight."

"Awesome! I'll let everyone know so _no one_ -" Yang stressed the two words with a degree of force that let Blake know she wouldn't be allowed to avoid this. "-misses out on our little bonding exercise. Capishe?"

"..."

"Ahem?"

"...Hah... Yes, I'll be there." Blake repeated, more to appease Yang it seemed than anything. It worked though and Yang let out a victorious whoop before shutting off her scroll.

She patted Jaune on the back with a strong hand. "There we go! Now we've got our kitty back on the leash!"

"Cats don't wear leashes..." Seriously though, there was a glaring issue Jaune was realizing right then and there. It had been gnawing at the back of his mind during the conversation but now that it was over, it was smacking him dead in the face and refused to be ignored. He looked a bit cross and steadily asked Yang. "Why didn't you just tell her that we had information about Roman? Wouldn't that have gotten her to come immediately?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Yang nodded. "But that's not what I wanted. I didn't want to _force_ Blake to come back and talk with us! I wanted her to do it because she wanted to."

"She didn't seem like she wanted to..." Jaune's quiet comment went unnoticed by Yang who kept going.

"I mean... I... I don't know her yet." She admitted freely. "I want to though, at least I think I do, and I know that forcing people's hands isn't a good way to start any kind of friendship, ya know?" Jaune nodded in understanding, prompting her to continue. "I never really had any plans on forcing her hand –I know I know, I'm getting to why we went fishing for information!" She stopped Jaune's train of thought the moment it had left the station. "I want to talk to her about her faunus issues in the context of her faunus issues. And... And while we've only known each other for a short period of time, we are partners..." Yang looked up into the sky and smiled, her hands stretching behind her head. "I plan on telling her what we learned today as a-"

"Sign of trust?" Jaune finished for her as her intentions became a tad clearer. Yang had done all of this today, not to force Blake into conversation, but as a way of showing her solidarity and support to her partner. Jaune had come into it thinking they would make Blake come to them out of necessity to talk about some dangerous plots, Yang had simply wanted something to give to Blake as a sort of peace offering. Though maybe the nefarious plans of a criminal weren't exactly all that peaceful to begin with, then again, they were huntsman, weren't they?

And from what he had gathered today, huntsman only seemed emboldened by playing dangerous games.

"So, you heading off to Oobleck then?" Yang pointed at her wrist, a motion he would have to interpret fully later, but got the gist of in the immediate.

"Seems like it's about time, so yes." He confirmed and extended his hand for her to grab. She did so with a snort and Jaune vibrated his hand shortly before waving her off and heading back towards Beacon Academy.

Then she walked up beside him again and chortled. "You do know I have to go back as well right? You ain't leaving me behind anytime soon Vomit Comet."

"...Oh..." His voice was lame and his cheeks grew warm as he did his best to ignore her laughter.

"Yeah, you're stuck with me for just a bit longer, also..." The bombastic blond tapped him on the shoulder and then turned him around. "You're heading the wrong direction. Just follow me why don't you?"

At that point, there was no saving face, so Jaune just succumbed to the light embarrassment and followed the pretty blond down the street.

Hopefully she wouldn't use this single moment of slight embarrassment against him.

"So what do you think is better? Vomit Comet or the Strayed Stomach Slinger?"

 _Dammit..._

* * *

"Hello Mister Arc."

"Oobleck."

They spoke courteously to each other, one offering the other a seat directly across from him along with a mug of black liquid. Jaune raised an eyebrow at the drink but took it into his hands nonetheless, regarding it warily with a small sniff.

It smelled deep and rich. A good smell.

"It's a bit strong so I'd suggest starting with a meager sip." Oobleck recommended to the younger teen.

Jaune nodded and parted his lips just enough to allow a small dribble of the mystery substance onto his tongue. His eyes widened as the luscious taste hit his tongue and a jolt of energy shot through him like a lance. He sat up straighter and shook his head a tad before taking another, slightly longer sip.

"Do you enjoy the taste Mister Arc?" Oobleck asked with a pleased expression as he took a fast gulp from his own mug. Jaune nodded to him with a smile, holding his own cup to the blisteringly fast speaking man.

"What is this?" He had to ask. Shiloh had a drink that was vaguely similar it seemed, at least in affect that was. It was called bariq and tasted foul beyond reasonable expectation -sour with a harsh and coarse aftertaste that left the tongue feeling like it had been rubbed against sandpaper was best description he could conceive.

Jaune had nearly thrown up after his first gulp of the nearly toxic drink, but at least he had felt awakened! Though if it was an actual property of the drink or simply from the shock he couldn't tell.

"Hm?" Oobleck's glasses fell off his nose a bit in surprise. "You don't have coffee back in Shiloh?" He quickly repositioned his bifocals with his free hand.

Jaune shook his head and took another, more generous sip of his coffee, intent on enjoying the experience while it lasted. "No, we have something called bariq which bolsters a soldiers energy and attentiveness, but it tastes like cat piss compared to this." He held his cup up in appreciation and reverence.

Oobleck chuckled lightly at the comparison. "How far south is Shiloh from here again? Too far south and I can see why then, coffee plants only grow in specific climates and Vale is the only known Kingdom to be able to grow them natively." He explained. Jaune could barely keep up though and was left with little more than the initial question.

"Far enough I suppose." He'd need to see a map to get more specific than that. "It's colder in Shiloh than up here if that tells you anything. So," he set the cup down on the table in front of him and leveled Oobleck with an imposing stare, "exactly what did you want to talk about?" Jaune got straight to the point, seeing little reason to waddle around in pleasant but pointless conversation.

"To talk history with you, Mister Arc!" Oobleck supplied heartily. "It isn't every day that one gets to meet with someone from the Outskirts. Especially not from one so relatively unknown." He began to speed up excitedly, nodding quickly while rushing off in a flash and reappearing just as fast with a relatively large book. He opened it up and began flipping through it. "Would you like to see the totality of information we have on your people Jaune?" Said student nodded carefully, leaning forwards to see what page he would reach. Oobleck eventually landed on a page with several paragraphs of text, though he seemed focused on a relatively tiny one that was tucked into the bottom right of the page. "This!"

Jaune couldn't see what the big deal was, craning his neck and reading the tile of the paragraph aloud. "Shiloh, The Forgotten Empire...?" His lips pursed in confusion as he read through the small text. "Not much is known about this mysterious city other than its apparent fanaticism with religion and lack of technical prowess. Shiloh is mostly secluded and is thought by some historians to be the origin of the original Valean Pilgrims, whom were cast out by the city to traverse across the land in exile." He paused and gave Oobleck an unimpressed look. " _This_ is the sum of knowledge you have on us?" It was ridiculous! Fanaticism? Lack of technical prowess?

It was so wrong Jaune couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Strangely enough, Oobleck laughed as well, nodding eagerly. "Exactly! Our current understanding on the Outskirts is incredibly limited to little more than fringe stories and myth. Mere conjecture that should be tossed aside and into the garbage where it rightfully belongs!" He pulled a pen and paper out from somewhere -it happened so fast Jaune couldn't tell if it came from his coat or from across the room. "I want to correct these erroneous views posthaste!"

So from what he could gather, Oobleck wanted to ask him about Shiloh as a direct source of information on the city. More than likely the history behind the city more than the culture so as to have a more proper foothold when addressing the far away location.

Jaune couldn't see too much danger in the idea so affirmed the request with another sip of coffee. "Ask away." He raised the mug towards the other man.

"Perfect! So to begin, where is Shiloh on the map?" Oobleck span over and procured a large map of the continent they called Sanus, splaying it out across the table between them.

 _Hm I should have brought my own map with me..._ Jaune sighed and traced a finger down south, past the mountains closer to the southern edge than anything. "Shiloh is located here, roughly I'd say. Oh, and by the way, you're missing a river on this map." Jaune mentioned offhand with a wave.

"Oh? These maps were drawn by some of humanity's greatest cartographers. You're saying they missed an entire river system?"

Jaune just chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"That sounds... improbably at best..."

"Well it's alright since I can understand why they would miss it."

"Oh?" Oobleck once again pulled out his pen and paper, ready to write down every one of Jaune's words.

"Well it's just that it would have been hard to spot it in the first place," he watched Oobleck begin taking notes fastidiously. "After all, it's underground."

"An underground river?" The professor's voice turned incredulous and he shook his head. "How large?"

"Runs wider than this school does," Jaune ticked off, not exactly certain of the length to the number, but the sheer size of it had been pretty much pounded into his skull already. "Incredibly deep as well, fish like tuna and salmon swim through it in fact. The cross section of river that Shiloh is located directly above also happens to be in a massive cave, which lends itself to some more unique designs."

"Unique designs you say?" He scribbled quickly and hummed to himself. Though with how fast it came out it sounded more like an incessant buzzing. "Part of Shiloh is underground then?"

"Yeah," he'd have to be careful not to give out anything too telling. "It's called The Forge. A massive underground structure that we built to support the above city from collapsing into the cave system."

"Why is it called The Forge then?" He asked and Jaune just rolled his eyes.

"What do forges usually do?"

"Ah, so The Forge is where your weapons are made?"

Jaune affirmed his thoughts with a nod. "Yes, though that's not the only function it serves, but I'd rather not say since it's not supposed to be common knowledge."

Oobleck seemed to understand, though he was clearly disappointed by the statement, sighing a tad but leaving it behind nonetheless.

"Perhaps you could tell me what the structure of the city aboveground is like then?"

Jaune debated on leaving out some of the more key details to their defense system, but ultimately decided against it. Those weren't exactly subtle to begin with.

"Shiloh covers less area than Vale, I can tell you that right off the bat." Jaune got up and moved over the window as he spoke, gesturing towards the outside world. "We have enormous walls encircling the entire city that are separated into four distinct sections; one for each cardinal direction." He pointed as far as he could, imagining a wall where there wasn't. "The walls are our last line of defense against the Grimm."

"Not the first?" Oobleck interrupted, brow furrowed in confusion as he span the pen in his hand so fast it looked like a fan.

Jaune shook his head though. "No, we believe the best defense is a strong offense. If Grimm gather, we don't wait for them to come to us since that would be foolhardy."

"Foolhardy? Isn't it easier to defend an attack and counter than be the aggressor?"

He wasn't wrong, at least when you were talking about human opponents, but the Grimm were a far different form than that. Especially when they gathered in large numbers.

No, for the Grimm didn't form armies like men did.

They formed swarms.

"No, unlike men, the Grimm are relentless and unending in number. You can't break their spirits and you can't beat them through attrition. Grimm aren't mindless beasts either, at least not out there they aren't." Jaune shook his head, vivid memories flashing into his mind.

"Not mindless you say?" Oobleck seemed worried now, latching onto those words. "Do you mean instinct or learned behaviors? Grimm here have similar-"

"No, it goes far beyond simple instinct." Jaune interjected. "Instinct doesn't cover some of the things I've heard the Grimm around Shiloh do."

"Explain." Oobleck got far more serious all of a sudden. It made sense though, new information about Grimm wasn't something to laugh at. It was best to be prepared for new developments before they happened after all.

"Hm..." What could he tell him as an example? There were plenty, but one in particular came crawling into his mind. "Do you know what an Ouroboros is?"

Oobleck apparently didn't since he gestured for him to continue as he paid rapt attention.

"I've only seen it one time and it's a sort of... living nightmare of a Grimm that we've struggled to kill for a while." Jaune grimaced as he thought of its grotesque and alien form. "Imagine, if you can, a mass of writhing tentacles made of Grimm flesh that moves around. It has no set shape, elongating where it pleases and contracting where it may, constantly undulating during every movement. It's method of attack is... gruesome." Jaune cringed. "Aside from its ability to strike out with several tentacles at once from any point on its body, it has tendency to simply... envelop a man, smothering him with its body." He had seen it happen one time when he was out on patrol, barely jumping backwards in time to dodge the writhing mass as it shot past him, snatching up some unlucky man who wasn't as fast as him. "Once it does that, I don't know the process behind it, but it strips out the entirety of your flesh. Skin, muscles, and organs all dragged away and leaving behind a stark white skeleton."

Oobleck's eyes widened in horror. "I see, and this Grimm you say, is not mindless?"

"It can't be. Otherwise it would have died a long time ago." Jaune scowled. "Our walls have massive cannons lining them that most Grimm are unable to avoid them since they've never encountered them before." Of course, that was because any Grimm that encountered the walls died, meaning there was no learning from their mistakes going on. Usually, that was. "I hear that the first time the Ouroboros approached our walls, it... well the reports are hazy, but apparently it waited just beyond the tree line, too difficult to pinpoint to hit directly. Twisting around and simply watching the walls with some unending curiosity. Eventually, instead of simply charging in like most grimm, it reached out and grabbed a tree, using it as some rudimentary shield as it tried to close the gap."

"It used a tree as a shield!?"

Jaune had been just as surprised as Oobleck when he first heard the story, unable to believe it himself at the time. That a Grimm could figure out what cannons were and then prepare for it spoke nothing but ill things.

"Luckily, our cannons can't exactly be blocked by trees so we were still able to fend it off. The thing hasn't tried coming into the city since its first attempt."

"So it leaves the city alone now?"

When had he said that? "No, it just doesn't approach the walls anymore. It knows the walls are too dangerous to approach, easier to simply pick off the stray patrol that we send out." Jaune shrugged. "Though sightings of the beast are getting more and more infrequent as the years go by apparently." The one ray of light when it came to the monster. Apparently it was losing _interest_.

"To think such dangerous manifestations of Grimm could even exist... We've had our own host of monsters out towards the villages as well, creatures of Grimm that defy the norms." Oobleck frowned. "But none have ever displayed such... proactive learning measures."

"Maybe luck then?"

"Maybe... Jaune, if you would," he gestured for him to take his seat again. "You've shared with me quite the interesting tale and I'd like to return the favor."

"Oh?" It was expected of course, that Oobleck would share knowledge with him back. It was only fair after all.

"Jaune," Oobleck leaned in and his voice slowed down dramatically. "what do you know about maidens?"

* * *

 **A/N: Ah! So now we've learned a tad more about Shiloh, which is exciting for me since it's really my favorite part. Building the city itself is a bit of a goal of mine and I hope I can slowly put the pieces out there for you guys to put together. Oobleck called Jaune for a reason by the way, and if you really think it was to just talk _history_ of all things... Well I don't know what to tell ya. **

**So last chapter had a lot of people asking about why Jaune didn't seem pressured to go out and get things done. I realized it's one of my bigger flaws and it's something I need to work on in the future. It's called pacing and I have no clue how it works sometimes. So to recap for you, Jaune has literally been in Vale for less than a weeks time. Why would he slam the pressure on Ozpin when it's been such a short amount of time? I know but you don't get things done by pressuring people every second. All that does is build resentment and annoyance. Jaune has to have a small amount of faith that Ozpin is working on getting his petition pushed through as fast as possible. Of course that doesn't mean he's just going to ignore it for a while, Jaune WILL ask Ozpin for an update soon, but he won't be throwing tantrums like some people have been asking him to do.**

 **Temper tantrums don't get things done faster, they just get things done more angry.**

 **So no, Jaune will not storm Ozpin's office to try and force him to expedite the process, he understands things take time and there's a balance to be had between pushing too hard and not pushing at all.**

 **But yes, he will ask Ozpin about the status soon and things will indeed get moving soon! Ozpin might seem lazy to many, but he's not in this story.**

 **Also, some might be wondering why Jaune would be so aghast at Yang beating up Junior when Junior is an obvious criminal.**

 **For one, he's not. Seriously, what the fuck did he do again? Not give Yang information so she grabbed him by the literal balls? Then he got assaulted and his club had to try and force the blonde maelstrom of wrath but ended losing spectacularly since, you know, normal civilians can't fight on the level of huntsman by any means. The Malachite sisters got whooped despite going two on one and Junior basically didn't stand a chance once Yang decided she'd had enough of his bullshit.**

 **She assaulted what originally seemed to just be a civilian nightclub that had a lot of guards.**

 **Remember, Jaune's city has _very specific_ people who deal with civilians. Jaune himself would never be the one to go out and stop a rabble between two civilian parties since he doesn't have the training to deal with regular people. An aura empowered human could probably snap someone's spine pretty easily trying to restrain him. When you're trained to take down beasts that can be larger than buildings, you don't have much room to learn how to 'hold back'. **

**It's like how superman spent his whole life working on controlling his power since he could literally stare at a man and turn him into radioactive ash if he wasn't careful.**

 **And Yang's just a hunter in _training_. **

**It makes no sense that she could fight civilians with reckless abandon the way she did, causing so much damage and harm. What if she had hit one just a little too hard? In fact, most of those guards she beat up _had_ to have ended up in the ICU after the fight with how hard she had hit them. And since it seems like according to the show, unlocking aura is no easy feat, I doubt any of them had access to it. Most people with aura are distinctly above such plebeian styling.**

 **So it's firmly in my opinion that Yang probably hospitalized a shit ton of Junior's employees that night.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: A bit later than usual. Got sick. Harder to write and my head feels like I have Donald Trump building a wall between both hemispheres. Har har, funny joke. Har har, my head feels like a karate masters roofing shingles –broken and split in half after repetitive pounding.**

 **Someone save me!**

* * *

Chapter 9 - His Headache's As Big As Mine

* * *

A nice clock hung on the wall of Ozpin's office.

Well, it would have been more apt to say that it _was_ the wall.

And Jaune certainly took notice of it as he stepped into the room, the early rays of the morning bursting through the massive and transparent frame. He squinted, one hand naturally rising up to shield his eyes, though it did little to help as the smallest crack allowed the sunlight to scatter through his pupil.

"Good morning." He heard Ozpin's curt voice sound from across the room somewhere, and while he couldn't pinpoint exactly where it had come from, Jaune still threw out a reply.

"Morning to you too." His voice was noticeably groggy, though he tried his best to hide it. He was slowly beginning to damn himself for not bringing the miracle juice with him –coffee, that was.

"Perhaps you'd like to take a seat before we began?"

Jaune nodded, blindly reaching around the room, just barely catching the silhouette of a desk and its adjacent seat through the corner of his eye. He made his way towards it and plopped himself down, rubbing his face with one hand as he willed the blindness away.

"So, have you spoken with your council?" Jaune asked, trying his best to keep the edge off his voice. Then again, he doubted it would have even been noticeable through his groaning. "It's been a little over a week, surely there's been news."

"Well," Jaune heard Ozpin take a long, drawn out sip from some cup, and as the familiar smell hit his nose, Jaune felt a bubble of jealously rise up in his heart. The bastard was holding out on him! He entertained the idea of stealing Ozpin's cup but was cut short when Ozpin continued speaking. "The council wishes to meet with you personally now. So congratulations are due I suppose..." If congratulations were due, Ozpin wasn't going to be the one giving them it seemed. His voice was as emotionless as ever and now opening his eyes fully, Jaune could see his expression only matched his level of enthusiasm.

"Is that a bad thing?" He worriedly asked. Had Ozpin somehow failed and turned the council against his plight? Or maybe that had been his purpose in the first place! He knew he shouldn't have trusted him so-

"Depends on how much you like long and boring meetings."

"...So you're saying I should start by plugging my ears and gouging both eyes out." Jaune blanched, yet feeling much more comfortable at the same time. He could deal with boring, however much he despised it. "Sounds awful..." He admitted.

Ozpin chuckled at his plight. "Perhaps, but it's the price you pay to get your audience." He poured himself another cup of coffee and through the haze of jealously that clouded his mind, Jaune couldn't help but wonder how healthy that could be... Bariq could only be taken once a day and coffee seemed to have similar affects. Ozpin was already on a second cup it seemed, though looking at the pot he poured from, it was more than likely more than that.

And though it was also supposed to give a massive boost in energy, Ozpin seemed quite subdued. His movements slow and even lethargic, a complete 180 from Oobleck.

Thinking of Oobleck brought back to mind one of the reasons he had come here. Stories and myths that he wanted cleared up along with some other misunderstandings.

"Oobleck told me something strange just a little while ago, though I'm sure you know by now." Jaune was under no delusions that Oobleck told him that story for fun and games. Ozpin was clearly more than he made himself to be and he didn't doubt for a second that Ozpin told Oobleck to explicitly tell that tale to him. "Left quite the impression on me." Jaune kept his face as still as he could, doing his best to keep his thoughts to himself and off the table for the pensive professor to read.

"Oh?" Ozpin settled his cup down onto the table before him and folded his hands together, leaning an ear for Jaune to speak to. "How so?"

"Are these your Gods?" Jaune asked with a reticent stare. "Or, more aptly, are these the stories you people made for your Gods?"

"Gods?" His eyebrow twitched a tad and his lips parted into a small smile. "Well I don't know if I'd call the maidens _Gods_ by any means."

"Perhaps the wizard then?"

Ozpin laughed quite openly at that, his voice ringing around the room as he spoke with a sparkle in his eye. "Definitely not." He seemed to nod to himself more than anyone and Jaune couldn't read the expressions flashing through like lightning.

"So what is your God then?" Jaune asked.

"Why the sudden interest?"

He shrugged and mimed taking a cup for himself. Ozpin took no offense and even poured one for him himself before lifting it up and passing it into his hands. "Curiosity more than anything. I've noticed that Beacon doesn't have religious undertones at all and well, it seems like most of the city doesn't either to be frank."

"You'd be correct," Ozpin affirmed while taking a quick sip, "the Kingdom of Vale has laws governing the separation of church and state." Jaune recoiled a fair bit, eyes widening at the revelation. Ozpin clearly noted the reaction and metered out his next words a bit more carefully, nodding each one in slowly. "Unlike Shiloh, I gather?"

Unlike Shiloh indeed. "You'd be correct." Jaune mirrored with a sigh. He felt some trepidation enter his heart again... Separation of church and state seemed -no, it was strange. How did they keep everyone on the same level? How did people connect if they didn't have a common goal to work towards? The mere fact that Vale wasn't on fire and in chaos boggled his mind. Then again, it wasn't like violence wasn't unheard of. And Yang... _Oh yeah..._ He glumly reminded himself. He looked up at Ozpin and spoke carefully and slowly. "There's a-a situation I need cleared up." He stuttered, avoiding naming Yang for the moment. "Do huntsman... _fight_ civilians?"

There was a pause there, and Jaune felt like he could see a ghost of a frown forming on Ozpin's lips if he squinted hard. But the moment left as fast as it came and Ozpin tapped his fingers upon the rim of his cup. "Circumstantial I'd say."

" _Circumstantial_?" Jaune repeated in a bit of an incredulous voice, one brow climbing steadily up his forehead.

"Yes, a bit of a grey area." He sighed. "Huntsman can indeed fight civilians under the right circumstances." He acquiesced, his tapping coming to a full stop.

Circumstances. A word that no one ever really liked to hear when being given an explanation, and this was no different. Jaune grimaced and continued his line of dialogue, still hesitating since he knew he might not like the answers that could be given. "What sorts of circumstances?"

"Battery would be one such circumstance." Ozpin took a generous sip of his cup as he explained.

"Battery?" He asked, not understanding what power sources had to do with the situation.

"The damaging of a person's physical wellbeing." Ozpin clarified with a light cough, watching him closely for a reaction.

Jaune tried his best not to give him one.

"I see... So how far is a huntsman allowed to go in the name of _self-defense_?" Jaune wanted to sniff at the idea but was forced to give it some credence. After all, every civilian back at home knew attacking a Templar would incur quite the immediate and _permanent_ punishment. But civilians attacking members of the Templar Order was unheard of. Sure, he hadn't exactly lived a long life to be exact, but zero attacks in seventeen years was still quite the accomplishment.

"Hm..." Ozpin stroked his chin as he entered deep thought. "Well I suppose it would depend on the scale of the attack. A huntsman can't exactly pop a man's head off for bumping into him." He snapped his fingers, as though he were doing that exact action.

"But would there be a point where they could?" Jaune insisted with a frown. "Can a huntsman _kill_ a civilian?"

Ozpin stopped taking sips of his coffee, frowning into his cup as he chose to swirl around the dark liquid with the gentle motion of his hand. After some seconds of silence, he spoke up again. "I suppose they could..."

Jaune grimaced. Clearly huntsman weren't what he thought they were. Their freedoms were far greater than he was used to, either that or their responsibilities simply extended past his own as a Templar. "That's... I don't think I could be a huntsman." Jaune admitted freely, though he was sure both of them already knew that.

"Why do you think that?"

 _Why do I think that?_ Jaune thought a bit more than incredulously to himself. He shook his head and chuckled at the headmaster. "Just not used to that kind of freedom."

"The freedom to stop criminals?"

"No, Templar are permitted to _stop_ criminals in their tracks should they witness one occur, but more often than not they don't have to. The Chaplain Order tends to resolve issues fast enough as it is."

"The Chaplain Order? There's more than just a one Order in Shiloh?" Ozpin mused.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Of course, they're like... well I thought they were like your police, but clearly they aren't since your police seem a bit ineffective." He felt raw bile form somewhere in his stomach, an unpleasant reminder of burnt bone and seared skin. He pushed it away though and was surprised to see an expression of guilt marring Ozpin's usually placid face.

"That was..." Ozpin ruminated heavily, allowing silence to take the place of his words. Jaune could see, in small flashes only, a mixture of feelings crossing Ozpin's mind –remorse, anger, shame, and sadness dominated most of it. Finally, after some time, he finally spoke up again. "That was a mistake. They never should have gone out to confront a man like Torchwick on their own."

"And who should've?"

"Us." Ozpin replied in a curt tone. "Hunters are meant to deal with enemies such as Roman Torchwick. He used to be a hunter himself after all."

So Torchwick was a hunter... It should have surprised Jaune but it really didn't. Vale was so... so chaotic compared to what he was used to. How did anyone keep heads or tails over anything when everything was so muddied and unbalanced to begin with? "So hunters fight both Grimm and man?" Jaune summarized with a sigh, leaning into his seat. "Sounds like a bad system if you ask me..."

"Bad?" Ozpin sounded genuinely curious at his conclusion. His lips parting to take a sip but he held it off, instead lowering the cup and raising an eyebrow at Jaune. "Perhaps you could expound on that...?"

"You're using soldiers as peacekeepers in your own cities." Jaune said pointedly with a nod. "How is that okay?" Seriously... How did Ozpin not see the issue? To Jaune it was as clear as day. Ozpin didn't seem to see it though, cocking his head to the side while gesturing for him to continue with the raising of his cup. "Wouldn't you say one should exert all their efforts when battling the Grimm?" Jaune started with a question.

"Well of course." Ozpin replied smoothly.

"Exactly, you fight for your life to kill your enemy, don't you? Fighting Grimm means killing Grimm, and killing Grimm takes every ounce of your strength and being." Long nights and even longer days reminded Jaune of that. The days could go by slowly as one slogged through wave after wave of Grimm, the grimy covering of blood and dirt slowly building up with every encounter. It could be suffocating. "Sure, maybe you don't need to struggle to kill the lone Beowolf, but the point is that the end goal is to slay every black beast that rises from the dirt in front of you." And that was the issue that Jaune couldn't help but see. Fighting Grimm meant killing Grimm ruthlessly. _Holding back_? Someone couldn't simply _hold back_ against mankind's greatest threat. "Whether you want them to be or not, hunters are soldiers against the Grimm first before all else."

"I suppose so, but we do teach our hunters how to hold their strength in check."

" _Strength in check_?" Jaune gawked. "You can't be serious..."

"Hunters have a great responsibility that they hold themselves to quite well."

"So Torchwick then...?" He reminded with a raised brow.

" _Most_ hunters..." Ozpin amended with a sigh. "But to be clear, are you telling me that you don't think it's right that hunters fight civilians?"

"I think it's dangerous." Jaune said. Big distinction between right and dangerous. "I can see why it might be necessary at times, but wouldn't it be better to have specific hunters trained to handle the general population?"

"Something your people do, right?"

"Exactly."

Ozpin sighed into his cup and closed his eyes. He tipped the cup just slightly, letting in a faint amount of coffee between his lips. "Do you not trust yourself to mitigate your own strength against civilians?"

"A trained man could literally kill someone by flicking his forehead..." Hell, Jaune had _seen_ it happen once!

"Well, I suppose all I can ask is that you trust us. Hunters are indeed trained to hold their strength back and there are few reported incidents of civilian deaths occurring by hunter action."

"I see."

"Yes, well then." Ozpin clapped his hands and nodded to a clock on the wall. "I believe it's about time to head out then."

"Wait, what?"

"Didn't I say the council wanted to meet with you now."

"You mean _right now_?"

"Is that unacceptable? I could ask them to-"

"No!" Jaune felt the word leap out his throat, into the air. "No, I think that's great!"

Ozpin smiled at him and stood up. "Good, do you have a scroll yet?" He asked, eying him for such technology. Jaune shook his head though and Ozpin simply reached into his own coat, pulling one out and handing it over to him. Jaune took it with care and looked to ask a question but Ozpin beat him to it. "I understand it'd be difficult for you to acquire one on your own so..." He gestured for Jaune to use the device. "Message your team, let them know you'll be absent today."

"Right."

"..."

"..."

"You don't know how to use it, do you?"

"It'll take me a moment, just... wait..."

"Just give it here for now." Ozpin sighed. "I'll send the message for you for now."

Jaune did just that and with a few quick taps, the message was sent and the two were on their way. Jaune couldn't help but wonder what their council would be like.

* * *

"-adjutant to the governing body of the unknown city located south past the borders of Vale, henceforth to be referred to as Shiloh. Accompanying Jaune Arc is the current headmaster of Beacon Academy-"

Jaune's head slipped forwards, only for him to quickly whip it back into upright position with a bleary blink. He struggled to keep his yawns at bay as a man in dressed up in a fine, black suit intoned oodles of background information for this 'hearing' as they called it.

"Coffee?" Ozpin offered in a tersely. Jaune was flummoxed though to see how well Ozpin was dealing with the proceedings, sitting up straight with no slouch in posture like himself and completely at attention. Either the man had been through this often enough that he just knew the patterns of what they said, or he wasn't paying attention at all. His exhausted blue orbs couldn't muster the strength to take a closer look.

Nonetheless, Jaune accepted the warm cup graciously and took a generous gulp, feeling the buzz of a second wind soon after.

"-for this hearing to adjourn pursuant with the legal jurisdiction vested within this Council of elected representatives, each one representing a distinct district of Vale. Each district being-"

"Are they usually this talkative?" Jaune whispered to his side, mulling over the idea of simply walking out and simply doing _anything_ other than just sitting there.

The headmaster shook his head. "No, I'm actually impressed for once..."

"That it's so long?" Jaune groaned, placing his head into his hands as non-suspiciously as he could manage.

"What?" Ozpin's eyes opened just a fraction wider than normal and he let his precious cup of super liquid part further away than usual from his lips. "I'm surprised it's so _short_."

Jaune nearly slapped his face into the table but caught himself immediately, playing it off as though he had simply wanted to take a closer look at the wood furnishing.

"How do you're people get anything done when they have to sit through this every time they want to make a large decision?" He couldn't help the raising of his voice. The man speaking shot him a dirty glare but he expertly ignored it by positioning his hand over the respective side of his face, blocking view of the man. If he couldn't see him, he couldn't muster up the emotional energy to care or at least something like that.

"More peace, more time." If Ozpin could have worded that simpler, Jaune wouldn't have been the one to know. Guess it made sense though, at least to him. The math checked out and Vale was a generally peaceful place it seemed, at least when it came to Grimm attacks. He couldn't speak too highly of their civilian... rowdiness.

"Well I don't have much time or peace, so is there any way we could hurry-"

And just like that, Ozpin interrupted him and pointed towards the speaker.

"Seems like he's almost done. Listing off each member usually occurs near the end of the introductions." Right on time, the man finished listing off each council member, prompting the two of them to hold their breaths.

"So without further interruptions-" he gave Jaune and Ozpin and honestly scandalized look, which the blond couldn't help but reciprocate with a withering one of his own. As though it was their fault the man had the vocal inflections of a dead cat. "-we will now begin this hearing. All rise."

They stood up and Jaune took another look at the room around them with newly determined eyes.

The place where he and Ozpin were located was a simple table with two seats, both facing towards the front of the room with a large, empty floor separating them from the council members. The council members themselves were sat at a pulpit unlike any other Jaune had ever seen. It dwarfed the High Templar's own, though most likely out of necessity than anything. For the pulpit ran across the entire width of the room, giving each council member ample space to themselves should he or she need it. Particularly noticeable were the flags presented before each one. A dazzling series of different colors and symbols were presented on each, presumably representing each member's district.

"Jaune Arc!" He looked up slowly, not allowing the booming voice to startle him. "It's good to finally meet you!" The man speaking was old. He had a beard long and wiry with the color of age tinting it gray while the top of his head remained barren and lifeless. He smiled cordially at him, spreading his arms wide with glee. "Certainly a historic moment to be meeting someone from so far away."

"Thank-" He started but never got to finish,

"And so private at that!" The woman next to him urged, leaning forwards with a hungry look on her face. "To think you'd choose to meet with headmaster Ozpin before _us_!? Perhaps you could open my own –and the councils as well of course- eyes as to that particular route?" Her voice was tinny and felt like needles across his skin. Jaune opened his mouth to reply but was beaten to it.

"Bah!" Far end of the table, where a younger man sat loosely, his form draping over his seat more than any of the others. "We all know we'd have never even met the boy had it not been Ozpin who brought him up. How many people ask to meet the council because their _special_?" He snarked. His lips pulled back to show off an impressive row of pearly white... fangs. Jaune could distinctly see the sharp edges upon his teeth as he clacked his jaw with every word. "You need to stop being so bothered Gloria!"

"And you'd do better to keep silent Leon." Gloria sent him a sharp look, but it went ignored.

"Now now..." The older man gently tapped a gavel against the desk. "We have more important matters to discuss currently. Primarily Jaune Arc's most unusual request. Ozpin gave us a small rundown, but I believe it'd be better to hear it directly from the source." He lowered his voice, directing his attention firmly onto the young man in question.

It was now or never, and Jaune could only hope that it wouldn't end up being never. He took a deep breath before beginning. "My home city of Shiloh has existed for many centuries, long blocked off from your civilization due to the mountainous terrain." History was always a good place to start, at least that was what he had been told by his father. "Lacking the natural barriers you have here, Grimm incursions are far more common, day to day in fact." He stood up slowly and took a few paces forwards so he was in front of the desk, and more importantly, in front of Ozpin himself. Sitting next to him could give the impression that he was being led by the man, a misunderstanding he couldn't afford here. "However, incursions are short lived, fleeting moments of terror. The Grimm come, the Grimm die, and the days march onwards."

"Exactly how often do incursions occur out there?" Leon asked with a grimace and a cough.

"At least once a day." Jaune shrugged. The council gasped in surprise, earning a confused look from him. "How much less does it happen out here?" He asked.

"Incursions are a rare event." The center man said. "The last incursion to actually come to Vale happened years ago." The man tapped three times on his desk willfully. Nothing happened for a few seconds and Jaune nearly started to talk again but he was immediately interrupted by the floor itself lighting up, projecting a massive, topographically accurate, map of the continent. The supposed leader of the council extended a hand and spoke. "Show us where Shiloh is exactly. I need to visualize just how far you must be to be experiencing such horrifically chronic attacks."

Jaune didn't bother arguing this time, knowing this would have had to happen sooner or later. Though he would have preferred _certain_ people not being there. He carefully walked over, hiding his amazement as he passed through the strange, floating image. He finally reached the general location of his home and placed his palm over it. "Here. Roughly at least."

The man nodded and tapped twice more, the place Jaune's hand was over began glowing a bright red.

"Forget being past our borders, that's past any outposts we have!"

"How have you survived out there?"

"The Grimm must be unending!"

 _And so are the comments._ Jaune patiently waited for the chatter to die out. He locked eyes with the center man, his coal colored orbs digging into his blue. The crow's feet surrounding his eyes deepened as his eyes squinted, peering at him in a different light. Jaune didn't know what he was looking for, but either he had found it or he had given up since he began tapping his gavel, once again vying for silence. "Allow him to continue, we've not got all day." The clock behind them rang in similar sentiment, gonging deep and loud as it hit noon.

"Anyways, on the topic of incursions, I take it Vale has never experienced a Black Night?" Jaune asked. He received a series of shaking heads. "Well then, let me introduce you." Jaune traced his way around Shiloh, using a single finger as a guide as he came full circle. Quite a large one at that. "Once every half century or so, Shiloh is assaulted by a swarm of Grimm that paints the landscape black." The circle he drew extended far past the city, delving deep into the surrounding forest. "An unending assault by the Grimm, _this_ is no incursion. Numbers have ranged into the upper millions before, showering our landscape with their pitch bodies."

"Millions..." Some of them whispered in shock.

"That's impossible. Grimm don't congregate in those sorts of numbers." Gloria shook her head dismissively, not allowing his words to impact her like it did the others. "We've never seem them organize anything resembling an army or organized front like you're saying."

"That's because it isn't an army." Jaune readily agreed. "It's a swarm. Bound together with only one goal and one purpose; to kill men. They don't line up their 'soldiers' in formation and they don't use strategy. They come en masse, sometimes the larger ones stomping their smaller brothers down into the ground."

"And how do we know you're being accurate...?" She accused in a haughty voice. "How do we know this is even true?"

Luckily he was prepared for such a question. "Of course," Jaune snapped his fingers and produced from inside one of his pockets, a small disk. "It's primitive compared to what you have, but on this disk is a small, recorded piece of the last Grimm invasion." He tossed it to the center man, who held it up to the light, turning it this way and that. There were no letters on it, Jaune had inspected the damn thing multiple times and knew every surface of it like the back of his hand. Eventually the man put it down onto his desk and cleared his throat.

"We'll review the elements within on a future date, for now, let's cut to the chase." he pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. "What's the official request?" He tapped the pen rhythmically on the desk, waiting for Jaune's response.

The reply came swiftly. "We need fighters, and plenty of them."

"Vale has no standing-"

"Hunters then. That'll be fine."

"Oh, and how do you intend on convincing any hunters to take this sort of mission?"

Jaune paused at the question, confused to hell. What did he mean by 'convince'? "We-Well, the plan was that we'd just hire them. You may not take our currency, but we planned on trading commodity goods in the form of dust." It was a risky ploy to be honest, knowing that they'd more than likely have to pay rates far greater than usual, after all, dust wasn't an exact substitute for money. However, they all shook their heads, rejecting his offer.

"That doesn't answer the question. How do you plan on getting hunters to accept your mission?"

Accept his mission? Well he just said he'd pay for their services through a commodity trade to their governing body! Jaune's face scrunched in confusion. "Accept? What do you mean by that?"

"Hunters cannot be forced into a mission they don't wish to partake in, that's one of the basic tenants of being a huntsman."

Wait...

Wait, WHAT?! Jaune looked back at Ozpin with an open mouth of honest surprise. He thought hunters could just be hired! That they chose their own _missions_ was completely unexpected to him! Why hadn't he been told of this earlier! Ozpin merely raised his cup to him, prompting him to look forwards. Jaune did so shakily.

"We can offer no guarantees, but we can put out a mission board for you, perhaps even promote it extensively. After proper vetting of course." Leon replied in a steady voice. No doubt they could all see his seething anger at the headmaster.

Jaune swallowed whatever words first came to his mind –mostly curses- and replied with a strained smile. "Of course, I can accept that."

"Well, then it's settled." Jaune didn't even listen to the man finish his sentence, opting instead to glare balefully at Ozpin, who ignored him and drank his coffee.

The two of them were walked out in silence, though Jaune was quickly thinking of ways to strangle the man striding next to him.

"Well, that could have gone better." Ozpin hummed.

"So... Hunters can't be directly hired." Jaune narrowed his eyes and reached for his sword, only to remember he had left it back at the school. A mistake, costly at that. Ozpin chuckled at the attempt and shook his head.

"Of course a full-fledged hunter can't be directly hired." Ozpin sipped, raising an eyebrow at the younger man. "When did I ever say otherwise?"

"When we first met!" Jaune gasped in exasperation.

"Oh?" He put a finger on his chin and closed his eyes. "I remember telling you they were expensive to hire and that I could provide a larger cohort if need be. Where in those two statements did I ever say _you-_ " he nodded at Jaune with a smile, "-could hire hunters directly?"

"You mislead me!?" Jaune cried out in shock. "You-You..." He seethed with bubbling anger, feeling the ugly emotion come up into his throat.

"Jaune, the council could never help you with a problem such as this." Ozpin lamented in a fake voice. "But like I said before, I can, and am absolutely willing, to help you."

"How could I ever believe you?" Jaune snapped, utter disbelief marking his face. Ozpin seriously thought that he would trust him after this? He had known all along and yet he hadn't told him or warned him! Why? Why would he do that?

"Well, really it's not a matter of trust." Ozpin sighed, pouring his coffee out of his cup and onto the sidewalk. He checked the insides, looking for residual amounts of the liquid before addressing Jaune once again. "You just don't have many other options that to work with me now."

Jaune snarled viciously, teeth bared while he backed away from the man. "I can find help elsewhere, I don't need you're-"

"Oh? And who will?" Ozpin teased in a quiet voice, pausing his steps. "The council can't help you and you've already accepted their ridiculous proposal." The way he spoke made Jaune want to find his sword and stick it through his smug face. His hand itched over the side of his pant leg as he desperately searched for something sharp and pointy, sadly it found little but lint and fabric. "Truly, how much time do you have young Arc? Months? Weeks?"

 _Months at best..._ Jaune stared into the ground beneath him. It was so pristine and clean, nothing at all like the old cobblestone roads near his house or the dusty dirt paths at the barracks. He thought it was great when he had first seen it, but now he hated how clean and unsullied everything had looked. All it did was hide the vipers it seemed. "I-I can... I can figure something out." He reached for desperately.

"You don't have that time, Jaune." Ozpin shook his head. "We both know that, so how about we make a new deal, one where _both_ of us can come out with what we want." Jaune had no doubts that whatever Ozpin wanted wouldn't make him any happier in life –hell, it'd probably make his stay in Vale even more miserable than it had just turned out to be.

But...

But what the hell else could he do? He didn't know how to get to other Kingdoms and even if he did, how long could it take for them to respond? Ozpin, for all the lies he told, wasn't wrong in saying Jaune didn't have time to waste. "I... I..." Jaune took in deep breaths, willing himself to come to a decision, even if it was one he didn't like. Seconds turned into minutes though, he looked up to see Ozpin staring at him through it all with that unflappable expression. Finally, Jaune resigned himself and grunted out his reply. "Fine then, let's _renegotiate._ " He hated how the word tasted.

"Well perfect!" Ozpin clapped his hands together. "How about we get some coffee and mull over it!"

The headaches were far from over it seemed.

* * *

 **A/N: Ozpin's an asshole!? Not really, not in my opinion. Just smart enough to take advantage of a situation at someone else's expense if it means helping the whole. Lots of leaders do that. Lots of leaders SHOULD do that. Keep in mind, Jaune's people really aren't Ozpin's people. At least not in this story.**

 **Also, I do stocks. Not trading. I don't like day trading. That's how fucking morons lose money. I do investments and I have really long term picks for my portfolio. Up over 100% this year. Yay me!**

 **If you're interested in building up a retirement portfolio, MAX YOUR IRA CONTRIBUTIONS!**

 **If you already do that and still want to try and make gains that actually matter, hit me up I guess? I'd like to have other people to work with.**

 **Primarily doctors since I do biopharma a lot.**

 **Tech would be okay but I'm already in that as an engineer.**

 **Also, please have read some basics. I don't want to have to teach you what the differences between a limit order and a market order is.**

 **Bye now, time for some sleeping medications and taking the damn day off.**

 **Day 5 of feeling like someone's been rubbing a cactus through my brain.**

 **Next Chapter: April 1** **st**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Or is it?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Chapter 10! A very short chapter this time, just barely hitting 5000 words, but it's out and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

The rays of the sun burst into the room, setting it alight. Pyrrha Nikos sighed, tugging on her apparel till it fit snuggly over her ample bosom, though a quick side glance at Nora, whose outfit looked like it was about to burst at the seams, certainly made her think twice over her personal assessment.

She scanned the room and was met with the rest of team JNPR getting ready for the day.

Well... more like team NPR it seemed at the moment.

"He left much earlier." Ren quietly pointed out while he buttoned up his shirt.

"I can see that..." She looked at empty bed beside Ren with a deep frown. The red sheets were neatly folded and lay gently upon the surface of the bed where her leader had once been sleeping just some time ago. It seemed so gently done. So meticulous as though to convey a sense of calm and serenity.

Nothing like Jaune himself ever since he had come back from his meeting with Ozpin.

He hadn't snapped out at them when he returned. In fact, he had smiled –well his lips had curled back in a particularly _snarly_ visage of one- when he entered the room and was met with their worried faces. But the underlying rage undulating beneath his skin had been practically _palpable_. Pyrrha had felt the heat radiating off of his skin as he brushed past her. Ren seemed to take note of the constantly tensing muscles around his neck. Even Nora couldn't ignore the way his forearms bulged and shuddered with every step as he strode over to his bed and sat down, eyes remained tightly shut like a locked chest. She had desperately wanted to ask what was wrong, but Ren had held her back, shaking his head and holding her shoulder tight. She knew he was right and while she certainly felt bad leaving the distraught teammate, she had forcibly reminded herself that Ren was his partner, not her.

Of course, Jaune either hadn't seen the small gesture of peace, or didn't care for it since he just sighed and slammed down into his bed, sleep coming quickly after.

"Maybe we should go look for him." She mused but expectedly, Ren once again pushed her ideas to the backboard with a simple answer.

"He needs space."

"What about breakfast?" A quintessential part of anyone's daily meal, surely!

He stood firm in his decision. "We can pack some for him to eat when he finally does return."

"He might miss classes!"

"I doubt the professors care much."

"Why would you think that?" Nora piped up from behind him, jumping up past his shoulders and leaning over him, curious expression written on her face.

"Nora," Ren started with a flat stare. "He's from an outside civilization, I doubt becoming a foreign fighter is high on his to-do list."

Another reminder of how different Jaune was from them all. So she acquiesced to Ren's authority, after all, he probably knew more about dealing with people than herself, quiet as he may have been. After all, he did basically deal with Nora on a day to day basis, he was sure to know how to handle someone like Jaune!

Right?

"What do you think he's up to?" Nora asked as they exited the room. "Oh! Maybe he's got some crazy revenge plot cooking up in his head that he's finalizing!"

Pyrrha chuckled at the excitable girl. "I don't think that's it." Revenge plot. Nora was certainly an interesting girl at times. Sure, Jaune had seemed bothered coming in, but Pyrrha couldn't see him holding some sort of vindictive grudge for long. He seemed a bit too calm for that.

* * *

 _I could probably break his legs when his guard is down... No, aura doesn't care about guard._

Jaune snarled as he dipped down low and span across the floor, his finger nimbly working his blade so that it flashed out and swept through invisible opponent's knees. He rose up as his spin came to a finish, gripping the blade with two hands and blocking another unseen blow.

He paused there, stuck guarding against nothing while he breathed tight and harsh. Try as he might, he couldn't temper his breathing however due to the unpleasant rumbling of a particularly dreadful emotion. A droplet of sweat rolled down his nose and plopped down towards the floor and time seemed to slow as Jaune tracked it to the floor.

 _I apologize Jaune, but I can't have you making connections in the council of all places. Authority they may be, but foolish more so._

The droplet spun and spun, holding itself together gracefully as it twirled. Jaune's hands twitched.

 _I know this may seem subversive, but I there are risks I can't take. You're an unknown factor right now, letting you run amok as my own enemies gather would be foolish, I'm sure you understand._

Steel flashed forwards.

 _So please, let's try and work together from here. No more lies... I promise._

Jaune roared as he split the droplet in half vertically, slamming his sword so hard into the ground it crushed the stone beneath the edge into dust.

"No more lies... Like I'd ever believe that..." Jaune hissed, rising back up. His knuckles were white like snow from gripping his blade so tightly. The feeling was starting to leave his fingers from the lack of blood so Jaune made to slide his sword back into its sheath, though he missed several times due to his unsteady hands.

"Breakfast will be starting soon I sugge-." Oobleck's voice sounded from behind him and Jaune turned with a sneer. "Arc, are you... Are you alright?" He briskly asked, repositioning his glasses with a single finger as he gave him a quick once over.

"Don't act like you don't know what happened." Jaune brushed past the man, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Trouble with your team perhaps?" Oobleck offered. "I understand teams can start off a tad rocky, but I assure you that-"

"Stop with the platitudes." Jaune snarled. He felt a tad bad for his behavior, but that feeling was squashed under the ensuing anger that resurfaced. They had all lied to him. Every last one of them. "We need to trust each other. What a joke!" He snorted.

"Wait, exactly what-" Oobleck started but Jaune didn't let him finish, choosing to gather his belongings and head immediately to the showers to wash up.

He wanted nothing to do with those _teachers_ at the moment, but the worried faces of his... acquaintances from last night still crept up the edges of his mind. He couldn't just leave them without explanation at his flippancy last night. The staff may have earned his ire, but he had the distinct feeling that the students probably had nothing to do with any of this. Moreover, he owed Ren a thank you for leaving him alone last night, allowing him to just rest easy instead of bothering him with inane chatter.

He sighed heavily.

He didn't know what to think of them anymore. On one hand, they were good... well he couldn't call them friends just yet, but they made solid acquaintances. He enjoyed Ren's pensiveness contrasted by Nora's rambunctiousness. Pyrrha's surprisingly gentle demeanor went without saying of course, the girl was far kinder and humbler than most champions he knew, the majority of whom spent most of their time bragging about their accomplishments. He appreciated their company, but they were so inextricably connected to the thing that now tied him down that he couldn't help but feel some of his animosity rub off towards them. If the headmaster acted in such a way, did that mean _all_ huntsman acted that way? Was deception such a common practice here!? Would the rest of his _team_ end up in such a way? He doubted it, he truly did, but then again, what did he really know.

He'd been fooled so easily after all.

Just another thing to curse about himself. He never learned to be cautious enough, to ask the _right_ sort of questions that couldn't be dragged about in circles. Ozpin had played him the fool and he had paid for it, dearly at that. That damned deal he'd been forced into...

He couldn't figure out how he would break the news to the Council when they were expecting a deal to be made exchanging goods for services, but was now getting something quite different than expected. He clenched a fist and rapped it against his skull, the dull thudding a vain attempt at reducing the aching noise in his brain. He clenched his eyes shut with a grimace and shook his head like a bull.

"Jaune..."

He looked up to see Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all of whom were standing directly in front of him. Pyrrha looked worried as usual, he was suspecting that it would be a common re-occurrence. Nora seemed happy, though her smile didn't reach quite as high now as it did when he first met her. Ren just looked bored for all intents and purposes, though he was holding a plate of food.

"Pyrrha insisted we bring you food, Nora agreed..." Ren explained with an almost defeated tone.

"Bring... me food?" A surprise certainly, though whether it was pleasant had yet to be determined. "I think that I'll be-"

"Jaune, there's no escaping this." Jaune coughed when he matched eyes with the other teen. They stood there staring at each other for a moment before Ren lead his eyes to the side towards... Nora? What did Nora have to do with escaping-

"Jaune! Team Juniper needs a strong leader to take charge!" Nora stepped up, adopting a _very_ cheery grin. "How do you suppose you're gonna do _that_ without a proper breakfast!" She jabbed a finger into his chest and Jaune looked back to Ren for an answer but...

Was he ignoring them?

His face was turned to the side while he just held the plate out. Eyes were shut tight and his whole body was stiff like a board. Yes, he was definitely ignoring them! Seems like cornering him like this really wasn't his idea at all. Hell if anything, the idea had probably stemmed from Pyrrha, speaking of which...

He looked to his remaining teammate and immediately wish _everyone_ had adopted Ren's more reserved approach.

For Pyrrha, whose eyes were _far_ larger than he had originally assumed, was pretty much pouring out enough emotion to make him drown in it. Her eyes were flashed open and she bit her lip hopefully, just staring at him, begging him to just take the offer, perhaps as a sort of amends for whatever wrong they incorrectly assumed they had committed. Her fingers twisted and pulled at each other, wringing around as she anxiously awaited his reply. Jaune honestly thought she would pass out if he just held out on his answer for long enough.

"...Thanks?" He accepted the plate and he heard Pyrrha let out the longest sigh ever. "Though I think eating it in the shower might be hard." He chuckled as they adopted some sheepish looks, though not Nora who just beamed at him.

"Well if you want, Renny here can hold the plate for you in there!" She slapped him on the back so hard he nearly dropped the fragile glass. Recovering quickly he just saw Ren's aghast expression.

"Nora, I doubt that'll be-"

"Nonsense! Girls take baths and showers together all the time! Right Pyrrha!?" She didn't really seem to look for a response, especially since Pyrrha just confusingly shook her head. Nora didn't seem to notice however. "See, completely normal stuff!"

"I think it's a tad different between boys and girls Nora." Ren said, the dutiful voice of reason.

"Well that sounds like sexism, don't fall for such immoral thoughts!" She brought him into the clutch and Jaune expected him to make some motion of escape, but he just sort of... gave up. "You can't allow such poisonous thoughts to invade you! I promise I'll help you get through this Ren, we've been together for so long –not 'together' together I mean- that I won't allow it!"

"Is she always like this?" Jaune whispered to his fellow captive. Ren only responded with a curt nod and shut eyes.

"-any issue as long as we work together! I'll teach you to once again be free and loving like the wind!"

"Is that a real phrase?" Jaune asked, struggling under the girl's surprisingly powerful grip.

"No..."

Pyrrha giggled at the scene and moved to help them out, tapping Nora lightly on the shoulder. "Maybe we should let Jaune take a shower first?" She sniffed him and cringed back, laughing nervously all the while.

Nora let him go the next moment, sticking her tongue out at him. "Wash yourself dear leader, for the day draws open soon!" She threw out her hands wide and moved out of his way, taking the plate with her as well.

 _What was the point of me taking it in the first place!?_ Jaune thought to himself incredulously. Also, either Ren didn't have a nose, or he just had incredible fortitude, since he was the only one who didn't cringe at the smell of his sweat ridden body. The only sign of discomfort from the stoic warrior came from the thinning of his lips, though even that could probably be explained as a result of Nora's rediscovered interest in his affairs as she gripped him by the shoulders and wallowed about something or the other.

Pyrrha smiled at him with parted lips, showing her perfectly white teeth. "We'll see you in class then?" She asked hesitantly, her smile faltering a tad when she undoubtedly saw his face twist for a quick second in displeasure. He quickly remedied that with a sigh though, nodding to her and giving her a tired grin.

"Yes, well I suppose there's no choice. Sorry if I seem a bit..." He sought the proper words but eventually gave up after nearly a minute passed by, throwing his hands in the air finally. "I'm just upset at some people –not you!" He quickly amended at her panicked expression. "Not any of you. I just need some space though to process."

She nodded to him, though stayed her distance. Whether due to his request or his lingering odor, he really couldn't tell, but he tried to stay optimistic.

They parted ways, Pyrrha quickly chasing after her partner and her partner's more-than-probable _partner_ and Jaune heading to his long awaited shower.

He wasn't looking too forwards to any more conversations for the day.

* * *

"Jaune..."

Said teen did his best to look as calm as possible, turning his head to the right to meet the gaze of his partner, who winced back for some reason.

"Yes Ren?" He quietly asked, eyes firmly locked in place and steady.

"Why are you glaring so hard at Professor Port?" Ren asked quietly. "Did he... Did the two of you get into some argument or something?"

"I'm not glaring at him." He was just paying attention to his stupid, inane lesson. If he just happened to be staring a tad harder than usual, that was really no fault. Attentiveness should be applauded after all. Especially when half the class was busy sleeping.

"Jaune." Ren clearly didn't believe a word he said. "You snarled at him under your breath."

"I was just yawning." He defended.

"With your mouth closed?"

"I didn't want to interrupt his lesson."

"You've also been gripping the edge of the table a bit aggressively, don't you think."

"I think not." Ren answered back by just pointing to the deep crevices his fingers had gouged deep into the wood. "That was already there before me." He lied.

"Jaune, I heard the wood splinter." He deadpanned.

"Maybe it's just very weak wood."

"I thought those impressions were there before you came along?" He smirked and Jaune just sighed in defeat.

"I'm just a tad stressed, nothing to be worried about." Jaune put on his best smile for his partner, trying to assuage whatever worries he might have been feeling.

Ren didn't look too accepting of the answer, he was surprisingly more caring than he came off as, but decidedly stayed silent, moving back to his own notes. Luckily for him, Pyrrha was basically only half awake, body just holding her steady with raw muscle memory as her conscious mind vanished into the sweat embrace of sleep. This meant she couldn't bother him in any way, which she undoubtedly would have had she been fully aware of her surroundings.

Class came to a quick close though, and Jaune made sure to ignore Port's gaze, opting to collect his teammates and exit the room as fast as possible.

"Woah there Jauney boy, don't you at least wanna greet your favorite team in the world?" Or at least he would have, had Yang not stopped him dead in his tracks as he stepped right out the door.

"Ahem?" Nora immediately intervened with a withering glare, though the mirth was still quite evident behind her eyes.

"Okay jeez," Yang laughed, relenting with her hands up in front of her. "Favorite team that he's not directly leading."

"Could be better, but I'll allow it for now." Nora narrowed her eyes at the girl though. "But I'm watching you!"

"So, you alright there Jauney boy?" Yang came back around to him, though the smile was wiped off her face now. "You seem a bit-"

"Tense, he's just a tad stressed, nothing to worry about." Ren came to his rescue with the immediate dismissal. Jaune was beginning to seriously consider fitting Ren with some sort of gift, maybe a new weapon from the forge? Something to think on later while he mentally thanked him in his mind for now.

"You know he broke the desk right?" Weiss said, unimpressed with the answer.

"It's a weak desk."

Huh, so he could lie. Jaune threw on a smile, this one genuine enough to pass and spoke up for himself. "It's really nothing guys, I've just been thinking of home." Not a lie technically.

"Aw... Are you homesick?" Yang cooed in a babying voice. "Don't worry, nothing wrong with that! Ruby cried every night for a whole week when we first went to Sign-" She was cut off by said girl slapping a hand over her sister's mouth like a muzzle, climbing onto her and firmly shutting her lips.

"That's not true!" The words shot out of her mouth at dizzying speeds. Her face was bright red and she couldn't even look a single one of them in the eye as she corrected her sister.

"Nthg br mrssed bout!" Yang's muffled voice cried out as she tried to pry her sister off her to no avail.

Jaune shook his head at the scene. "Well then I guess it is a bit of homesickness. Just don't worry too much. I'm sure it'll pass." Right after he lopped off Ozpin's legs and stuck them up his a-

"By the way, guess who's finally back!" Yang finally escaped her sister's clutches and strode up to him, patting him on the shoulder. Jaune stretched his neck to see...

"Blake?" The girl in question put the book she was reading away to acknowledge him with a very curt wave.

"She just _had_ to come back, said she couldn't live without us!" Yang wiped away an imaginary tear from the corner of her eye. Blake shook her head though.

"I'm starting to think coming back was definitely the wrong thing to do..." She mused, though Jaune could see the ghost of a smile grace her lips, letting him know she wasn't actually planning on booking it once again.

Surprisingly though, Weiss chimed in as well with her own statement. "Next time you leave, just take me with you." The girl sighed with a tired smile.

It seemed like everything had worked out on their end, which was nice to see. And while it didn't really involve him, it still made him feel a bit better knowing that _someone's_ day was going better, even if it wasn't his.

"Actually though, I didn't just stop you to say hi Jaune." Yang clutched his shoulder while he turned to leave with his team. She leveled a serious gaze at him. "I was wondering if we could talk in private?"

Jaune blinked once, then twice, before nodding to the rest of his team to head out first. Yang did the same, waving her teammates off while she pulled him off to the side, which really just meant down the opposite way of the hallway and past a corner.

"So, exactly what do you need now?" Jaune hadn't meant for it to sound rude, but Yang flinched anyways. "Sorry, I mean, what do you want to talk about?"

"You remember the whole process we went through to get Blake back?"

Oh? He remembered certainly. Yang's violent proclivities weren't something to be forgotten so easily. "Yes, why? Did something happen?"

"You remember what Junior told us, right?"

"You passed that information along to Blake and now she wants to go do something about it, is that about right?" Jaune finished for her immediately without pause. The girl fidgeted with her fingers uncharacteristically, a strange move for someone usually so brazen in attitude, which could only mean something bad. "You don't want Blake getting involved again with this whole situation?"

"She ran away so easily! What if she does it again!?" Yang hissed, though not at him. "And these guys... I did some research Jaune –don't laugh, I can do it if I try!" She narrowed her eyes at him when the barest hints of a smile appeared on his lips. "Anyways, I did some research. This Roman guy is bad news."

"Didn't he blow up a warehouse and kill a bunch of people? Yeah, seems like bad news to me." Seriously, it wasn't like there was much research to be done for a man like that.

"No," Yang shook her head and looked at him with wide eyes. "Jaune, this guy's a monster; full-fledged hunter, rap sheet longer than Vale is wide, and a whole host of other qualities that make the even the most prolific criminals look amateurish in respect."

"And you don't want Blake dealing with guys like this." Which seemed pretty obvious. They were just students, fighting someone so strong was insanity to begin with.

"No, I don't want _Ruby_ getting involved."

"Ruby?"

"Jaune, I want you to pretend that Blake, Weiss, and I all go over to put a stop to this operation that Roman's got going on..." She hung her words and let them fall off, closing her eyes.

"Ruby would natural come with you all."

"She'd _never_ let us hold her back from this." Made sense, the girl didn't seem like the type to shy away from a conflict, even though she'd already faced Roman once before and basically been completely ineffectual back then. "I can handle getting hurt, so can Blake, but Ruby?" She seemed so distraught at the mere idea of her sister getting hurt, face twisting in agony as some phantom future played out in her mind. "I can't allow that. I'd never allow that."

"So what do you need from me again?"

"I... I was hoping you'd come and help me and Blake with whatever this entails."

Hoping he'd come along and... help? "You want me to join in on this assault against a trained hunter?" He coughed, choking on his words as they came out.

She knew how ridiculous the request sounded it seemed, wincing from his words. "I know it's selfish Jaune, I'm sorry, but I was hoping Weiss could distract and hold Ruby back at Beacon while you, Blake, and I tackled this together.

"But why ask me? Why not-" He was going to say professors, but now that he thought about it, that'd be a pretty terrible idea, so he stopped short of it.

"The teachers? They'd never believe us to begin with."

He'd never believe _them_ to begin with, not after what happened. He honestly didn't want to join in on this though, it had nothing to do with his mission and just a bit of a block to getting his duties done.

But...

But there was a man out there trying to hurt more people.

And Jaune didn't feel right just letting it go like that. Yang, for her violence, wanted to go out there and stop something terrible from happening, and Blake clearly did as well. Did that make them stupid? Yes, it honestly did, but it didn't make them wrong. What else could they honestly do when the authorities were clearly corrupt?

He needed to give the council a message soon, tonight would be preferred, but what he did after he gave his report...

Well, as long as it didn't interfere, right?

"Fine," Yang looked up at him in surprise. "But I have some stipulations."

"Which are?" She asked quickly, clearly very eager to get this whole thing going.

Jaune raised a finger. "First off, we don't bring this up to my team either." He didn't know if he considered them friends, but they didn't deserve to get caught up in something dangerous like this. They were far too nice for him to bring into this. He only continued and raised a second finger when Yang nodded. "Second, nothing extreme, I don't want us to go in guns blazing on a guy who's clearly more experienced." Really the issue there would be Blake. She seemed paradoxically more fidgety. "Third, if things get bad enough, I'm pulling _all_ of us out immediately." He had no plans of dying a heroic death for this. He wanted to help people, but he still had his own people to think about. Dying here wouldn't really do much for them back at home.

Also his mother would probably come to whatever afterlife he found himself in just to scream at him and berate his actions.

"Deal!" Yang slapped him on the shoulder and let out a relieved sigh. "I honestly didn't know if you would agree when I passed this idea along to you." If Ozpin hadn't soured him so, he probably would have told her to go to the authorities for this, but he now saw very clearly how unreliable they were.

But it was different now, and that's what mattered. "Well I'm in for the ride now, so what are the specifics?"

"Well, we can talk about that at a later date!" Yang rushed out. "For now, I think we should get going, I think our teams are still waiting for us."

Jaune nodded, hopefully it wouldn't be too soon or too late.

Though he was slowly realizing that convenience was rare around these parts.

* * *

A monitor lit up in Roman's office, showering it with artificial light and the buzzing of a voice. He aligned an ear to listen as the story flowed through.

"Another hit happened just last night here Rook County, leaving the local populace gripped in terror as law enforcement struggles to keep up with the explosion of crime. Here to tell you more is Lisa Lavender. Lisa?"

Images of a burning store and the clear evidence of a battle having taken place popped up on the screen, flashing from one to the other with large, bold text at the top which read;

 **MINDLESS ATTACKS, OR VICIOUS PLOT?**

It then flashed over to another woman, Lisa, who spoke up the moment she appeared on screen. Her face filled with worry, though to anyone with a brain, it was evident the woman was just playing it up for the camera.

"Yes Eric, the police authorities of Vale are in a tizzy now, what with the explosion of dastardly individuals coming to light recently. Most notoriously is the advent of the well-known Faunus Rights Activist Group turned terrorist group, the White Fang. We have here with us, Assistant Chief Buckles, to tell us more. Buckles, how do you respond to these allegations that the law enforcement hasn't done enough to protect the people of Vale?"

"Well Lisa-"

Roman shut the monitor off, letting the voices die out with a whine. He puffed on cigar, pleased to see his most recent endeavors were paying off now. The White Fang, for all their idiocy, could definitely be put to use, especially by a man like himself, resourceful as he was.

He looked at the map before him. Massive check marks dotted the parchment, far more numerous than before, with lines jutting down several major roads and freeways. He traced some with his finger.

Crimes? Check.

Now then, time for step number two.

He turned around and smiled large and wide at the three individuals sat before him, tied up and gagged.

Roman clapped his hands and blew out a large cloud of smoke.

"Now then gentlemen, let's talk _business_."

* * *

 **A/N: A bit late in the afternoon, but it's up! Roman's up to no good as always, if you think you can figure out his plan, let me know and we'll see. If you can figure it out, I'll send you a cookie!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Yeesh, late again. You think I'd write these earlier but I never seem to have the time now. Probably because I've been stuck at work all day in recent months. Whatever though, I'll still try my best to update this story regularly. Blah de blah~**

 **Short chapter by the way. The next chapter will be FAR longer because of it though...**

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

 _To the High Templar and the Lord's Council of Shiloh,_

 _Only a small amount of time has passed thus far for myself, but I can imagine it has felt longer on all of your ends, and to that, I send this letter bearing... news. Good or bad, we have yet to see._

 _To get most pressing questions out of the way, I've acquired us the soldiers, though not in quite the way you may think. Perhaps even better however, though the man doing the giving is worrisome on his own._

 _On a less pressing note, Vale is an interesting city of study. The structure of the city flows far more dynamically than Shiloh and they expand outwards instead of upwards like ourselves. Grimm are few and far between it seems and I haven't seen, much less even heard whisper of a larger incursion. They enjoy luxuries most of us could only dream of and have technology far along from what we currently employ, though most of it isn't quite so practical for our living in the first place. The people here are indeed, a bit more free spirited than I'm used to._

 _Some in ways good._

 _Others in ways bad._

 _A man named Ozpin, who is of high repute here, has offered us the services of not just several hunters, but something else entirely that he believes will be fit this request more properly. In return he's chosen to accept our substitute payment of dust, but also requests one further payment._

 _This additional request is nothing of grand detail. Something we can provide assuming all goes well, but it is the manner of the man I believe to be an issue._

 _I do not trust him._

 _He knowingly withheld information from me to keep me a tied down to where I currently stay for reasons yet unknown. Any insight into his character is regularly rebuffed with an insipid smile or a quiet chuckle. Going past character statements however..._

 _Attached to this letter is a lengthy description regarding the exact specifications Ozpin has outlined as payment and services._

 _Objectively, I see it to be fair, far fairer than we'd get at Ashkelon._

 _Subjectively, I'd sooner see it burned, along with the man who gave it to me._

 _Post Scriptum - If it may be allowed, tell my family I am well without illness._

 _Post-Post Scriptum – I would like to request a better weapon. The blade I have is now found lacking for the job. The Feather is fine._

 _From,_

 _Jaune Arc_

* * *

Was it proper?

Check.

Was it complete?

Check.

Was it going to get him what he wanted?

...Check?

Well he'd find out soon enough.

Jaune folded up his letter into neat thirds before rolling the parchment into a tube and sliding it into the waiting container strapped to the messenger bird that waited patiently before him. How they got them so disciplined, Jaune couldn't imagine, but he could still appreciate the end results. The avian letter carrier hopped cutely from one foot to the other, anticipating the most cheerful part of its journey. It looked up at him expectantly with wide eyes, chirping once, then twice when some seconds passed.

He smiled and reached into his pack rummaging around for a moment before bringing out a small piece of meat. The bird immediately fixated onto the dried, meaty goodness, small head twitching to follow it's every small dip and dive. Jaune rolled his eyes.

"A gift for the weary." He quietly spoke to the bird. If it understood a lick of what he was saying, it didn't show, more than happy to just reach out and snap up the treat.

It hopped around then, spread its wings, and took off into the sky.

Jaune felt some remorse well up inside of him as he watched his one link back home fly away, zipping into the sky a streak of black. There had been so much he had wanted to say, not to the Council of course, but to his father, mother, and sisters. So much he wanted to express in these short jots of black ink. He wanted to tell them about all that had transpired, to share his struggles and his hardships, even if only with people who were so far away. As he watched the small black form of the bird slowly disappear into the blue sky, he felt his chest well up with a heavy sigh.

The rage had died off now and had been replaced with an emptiness.

Either that or smoldering in the vestiges of his mind, just ready for an errant comment or action to feed life into the inferno once more.

Worst thing was that he couldn't tell which he preferred.

Ozpin's deal still left the taste of ash in his mouth every time he thought of it, but now calmed down, Jaune couldn't help but see some positivity within it.

The esoteric man pushed forward the idea of sweetening the pot so to speak, mentioning the acquisition of soldiers that could be acquired en masse. Soldiers that could number in the thousands. Soldiers that would fight with no fear and no tiring. Soldiers who could die, without dying.

He called them the AK-130's which gave Jaune no real information.

Was that the name of the contingent of this fighting force? Jaune didn't know and upon asking, Ozpin had just given him another indecipherable smile, the bastard.

Soldiers who could die, without dying.

He couldn't even _begin_ to understand such cryptic language, but what he did know, was that Ozpin had promised him a personal meeting with the man who would supply such a force.

One James Ironwood from the northernmost Kingdom, Atlas.

A long trip it'd be, to head so far up North, but lucky for him, he wouldn't have to. Apparently this Ironwood would be coming down to Vale soon where they could negotiate in person. Though if Ironwood was anything like Ozpin, then Jaune was most certainly going to die by aneurism before anything got done.

But bursting blood vessels aside, the time table was already set and as long as the Council agreed to the deal, Shiloh would be set for the coming onslaught. Hopefully they'd send someone to replace him soon so he could head back over and help with the defense preparations. He rubbed his fingers over the pommel of his sword impatiently, a nervous habit many fighters seemed to develop. Fighting Grimm day after day could do that to a person.

"Jaune, we should head for breakfast soon." Ren's voice called out calmly.

He didn't want to leave, rather to stay there and think of home and family. But leave he did, turning around with a sigh.

His fingers never left his pommel the entire walk.

* * *

"So, you guys ready for the trip?" Ruby addressed the two teams in between bites of her pancakes, pausing only to swallow and take a quick swig of her milk.

"Don't talk and eat at the same time Ruby." Her partner grumbled in a not-so-quiet voice.

Ruby did a quick cringe, long having accepted the fact that she'd have to survive through the onslaught of disappointed looks and sighs for the rest of her tenure at Beacon. Her relationship with Weiss hadn't exactly shot off to the skies like she had wanted it too and while it hadn't exactly dive bombed so hard it reached Remnants core like she had come to expect, she was now stuck in some quasi-peaceful-but-mostly-chaotic in-between land that had her sweating by the bullets.

Pyrrha diplomatically came between then with a warm smile. Addressing Ruby first. "You're talking about the Forever Fall trip, right?" She nodded.

Ruby matched the gesture, not daring to open her mouth while she tasted the soft, bready goodness. Only after she swallowed did she reply. "Yeah! It's gonna be our first time out of the city limits, right? I wonder what we're gonna be doing out there?" Probably fight Grimm! After all, that's what they were learning to do, right? Miss Glynda would probably have them do some forest cleaning or something like that, not that she really minded though. Clearing Grimm was one of the few opportunities she had to show off her baby. Ruby gently traced the form of Crescent Rose on the table wistfully.

Or maybe they would be tasked with saving some villages! Then she could finally show Weiss what she was made of! Then they could finally be friends because Weiss would see that she was competent and _cool_ like everyone else! Not some... some dweeb or dolt as she usually referred to her as.

"Ruby? Hello?" She snapped back into reality when Yang worriedly shook her shoulder. The hooded heroine gave her sister a confused look.

"What?" She asked with a blank stare.

"I said, did you hear what we were going to be doing when we got there?" Yang repeated. Ruby shook her head at that. When had that information even been given out!? "Apparently we're-"

Ruby's desperately hoped for adventure like saving an entire city from the Grimm, or maybe rescuing people from a gaggle of criminals, or perhaps-

"-collecting tree sap."

Ruby blinked once, then twice, and finally thrice before finally finding her voice. "We're... collecting tree sap?"

"Yup!" Yang popped the word and shrugged. "Guess they need more in the kitchen or something?"

"Wouldn't they just buy some then?" Pyrrha questioned, some disappointment marring her expression as well. Though she probably hid it better than Ruby herself, who's forehead thudded onto the table before her, all hopes of saving face abandoning her.

"Maybe they wanna save on labor costs?" Weiss suggested, though even she didn't seem to believe her statement. No one else seemed to either.

Jaune particularly. Ruby peeked at him from the corner of her arm, the first look she'd given him since they had all entered the lunch room. Her sister had mentioned it earlier, that her first friend who happened to also be a boy –Yang still wouldn't stop teasingly calling him her first _boyfriend_ \- was clearly down in the dumps. Despite her own youth, Ruby wasn't so socially blind she couldn't see the obvious mood Jaune had swirling around. Yesterday, he'd looked ready to fight just about anyone had they given him a reason to, which worried her. Jaune was... well he was a bit scary to be honest, but he was a nice guy!

He had helped her earlier and he defended her from Weiss before. He even kind of helped Velvet... Kind of? Point being that Jaune was a nice guy through and through, which is why she was so worried he was being uncharacteristically... virulent.

The looks he shot the professors really sealed the deal though. What they had done to bother him was unknown, but it had to have been terrible to elicit such a reaction.

Lucky today though, he seemed quite mellowed out. Not nearly as angry as before.

Maybe it had passed?

"Jaune," Ruby piped up, raising her head. "What about you? You excited for the trip?" How could he not? It'd be the first time he had seen sights outside of Vale! She was sure he'd enjoy every moment of it.

Sadly, Jaune shook his head. "No. No, not really." He abruptly said. Lips thinning into a line as he stabbed his fork into a pancake. He let it sit there, jutting out like a stake or a gravestone. When it became awkwardly apparent that he wasn't going to continue talking, Ruby cleared her throat and stuttered forwards.

"We-Well I hear it's really nice out there, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!" She threw him a thumbs up and a vibrant smile.

He just nodded silently. Ruby wasn't sure what to think of that. He wasn't so mute before, but whatever had happened seemed to rob him of his usual mannerisms. Heck, even Blake seemed to talk more nowadays!

Ruby just sighed, unable to think of a way to help her friend.

The days just seemed to slogging by now with no rhyme or reason.

Hopefully this trip would be enough of a change of pace to jog _something_ into them all.

* * *

"Traffic's getting bad isn't it?" Roman looked up from his clipboard just for a moment to give his chauffeur a most harrowing glare. The henchman stuttered out a quick apology before getting back to driving, or his lack thereof to Roman's pleasure.

Though looking out the window of his car, Roman couldn't help but smile and agree.

Cars were pressed tightly up against one another, each one just barely inches from a fender bender accident. He could hear the intermittent honking horn and shouts of expletives as people from all walks of life frustratingly fought to make their way through the horrendous blockade.

A simple traffic jam.

Roman chuckled as he leaned back in his seat and tapped rhythmically on his clipboard.

Steps one and two were already in full effect and with only mere weeks till the shipments arrived, things were going perfectly to plan. Of course, what that left him with was wondering how he'd eventually extricate himself from Cinder's clutches. Oh he had no doubts the woman planned on stringing him up the moment his usefulness had run its course, both he and Neo if he had to guess. Which meant he needed to make sure he had an avenue of escape for the moment their relationship went south.

He couldn't fight her; that much had been made brutally clear quite early on. He and Neo couldn't even double team her with the sort of firepower she so casually tossed around, not unless they wanted to die together in excruciating pain. No, he'd have to fight her on a playing field he knew he could beat her on.

Cunning.

He knew Cinder was no fool and she wouldn't be caught off guard by simple schemes and simple ploys. Unlucky for her, Roman was no simpleton, no matter what she said or though. She was so certain that she'd be able to handle whatever Roman threw at her, confidence practically oozed out of her every orifice during their scant encounters. He knew that Cinder was expecting him to fight back in some way for control, so he knew that whatever he came up with had to subvert all of her expectations of him.

She could beat him in any sort of physical encounter, that much was clear.

She could track him down easily if he ran, he had no doubts.

So if he couldn't fight and he couldn't run, there was little left, but he'd find a way. No matter what, he'd find a way.

He was unwilling-no, he hated the idea of letting her take all he had built up over the years.

Roman had spent years building himself into the criminal mastermind that he was today. From reading through the endless tomes of laws that governed Vale to cozying up to corrupt politicians, Roman had spent his entire life building an empire unlike any other. Every move meticulously planned to pull him ahead of everyone else who tried to spurn his growth. So many men and women had tried over the years to stop him, and while many had come close, barely scraping a loss to him, all had eventually fallen short of their lofty goals.

His empire had been built up to be more than just a petty crime syndicate and he wouldn't see it crumble to ash, not while he still breathed.

But what would be the plan?

"Sir, we've arrived." Roman was jostled from his thoughts and looked out the window once again to see his familiar warehouse looming tall and dark. He put aside his scheming for the moment, he still had a role to play after all.

His father had once told him something a long time ago, and it seemed to float up onto the surface of his mind, now more than ever.

 _Life's a never ending game of chess where you can be any piece, at any time._

He'd treated it that way for a while now. A simple game. All the pieces firmly under his control to manipulate and toss to and fro. Cinder was a new piece –she fancied herself a queen at that- one he couldn't control, but that didn't change anything.

If he couldn't move her, than she was just a piece for the enemy.

He'd just have to treat her as such and work around it.

* * *

 **A/N: Filler chapter for now. It's really short to just set some stuff up. Things will move along much faster with the next chapter since we'll finally be getting into things like Forever Fall, the big heist, and some more Shiloh stuff.**


End file.
